
I 



THE BIRDS OF 

ARISTOPHANES 

TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH VERSE. 



<Sambrit>&e : 

PRINTED BY C. J. CLAY, M. A 
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. 



THE BIRDS OF 

ARISTOPHANES 

TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH VERSE 

WITH 

INTRODUCTION, NOTES, AND 
APPENDICES 



J - v. -. 



]!Y 



BENJAMIN HALL KENNEDY, D.D., 

REGIUS PROFESSOR OF GREEK IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBR1DC 



MACMILLAN AND CO. 
1874. 

[All Rights reserved.] 



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MEMORIAE • AETERNAE 

EDVARDI • GEORGII • LYTTON • BVLVER • LYTTON 

BARONIS • LYTTON 

QVI • CLARIS • NATALIBVS • AMPLIS • FORTVNIS • INGENIO • SVMMO 

SINGVLARI • TAMEN • INDVSTRIA • FVIT 

ET • BONARVM . ARTIVM • STVDIIS • A • PVERITIA • DEDITVS 

QVI • CVM • SCRIPTOR • IN • OMNI • FERE • LITTERARVM . GENERE 

INTER • SAECVLI • SVI • PRINCIPES • ELVCERET 

CVM • IN • CONCILIO • POPVLI • IS • ESSET • ORATOR 

VT • ELOQVENTIA • SVA • OMNIVM • AVRES • TENERET 

CVM • REGINAE - ESSET • A • SECRETIS • CONSILIIS 

ET • COLONIIS • ADMINISTRANDIS • QVONDAM • PRAEPOSITVS 

ILLVD • TAMEN • TOT • LAVDIBVS • ADIVNXIT 

VT • AMICVS • ESSE • POSSET • OFFICIOSVS • LIBERALIS • FIDELIS 

HVNC • QVALEMCVMQVE • LIBRVM 

DESIDERIO • TANTI • VIRI ■ PERCITVS 

ET • AMICITIAE • MEMOR 

PER • ANNOS • VNDEQVINQVAGINTA • PRODVCTAE 

D. D. 

B. H. KENNEDY 

IN • ACADEMIA • CANTABR. GRAEC. LITT. PROFESSOR - REGIVS 









TO 



ROBERT, LORD LYTTON, 

My dear Lord Lytton, 

The Translation of The Birds of Aristophanes 
which, with Introduction and Notes, appears in this 
volume, is the outgrowth of Lectures delivered by me 
as Greek Professor in this University. When I first 
thought of printing it, my chief motive was that, by 
dedicating it to your father, I might express the value 
I set on the constant friendship with which he had 
honoured me from our College days. But it was not 
ordered that he should see this expression of my feel- 
ing. His illustrious life was brought to a close within 
the first weeks of 1873 ; and to me, his elder in age by 
a few months, it was left to say mournfully, c i prae ; 
sequar.' 

You, of whom as his son and successor he was 
justly proud, kindly promised to represent him by ac- 
cepting the dedication of this book. When I asked of 
you that favour, I thought it likely that I should wish 
to say something of your father's place in the literary 



PREFACE. Vil 



and political history of his time. But I have abandoned 
that design, as too delicate to be now undertaken, and 
too difficult for me to undertake. What I would not 
willingly leave unsaid, you will see on another page, in 
the concise form of a Latin inscription. Perhaps some 
future historian, writing with impartial pen, may com- 
bine that testimony with his other materials, when he 
comes to treat of the life and writings of Edward, first 
Lord Lytton. 

Permit me to say a few words about the present 
work. 

My wish has been to produce a translation of The 
Birds which may be agreeable to the taste of English 
readers, and make the genius of Aristophanes and the 
character of his age more familiar to their minds. For 
this purpose I have chosen English metres, which in 
some instances are those of the original, but generally 
differ from them. German translators adhere to the 
Greek rhythms ; and I suppose therefore that to some 
modern ears the result is gratifying. Mine are not 
among the number. Few of our countrymen, I fancy, 
would in the dialogue prefer a series of heavy Alexan- 
drine lines to the usual ten-syllable measure of the 
English drama. And still less tolerable in our language 
would be the attempt to imitate the lyric metres of the 
Greek. 

In writing Greek proper names I have followed the 
practice of Mr Grote. I do not forget that, by so doing, 



vih PREFACE. 

I lay myself open to the humorous and good-tempered 
Criticism of your father in c The Caxtons/ But I dis- 
claim all pedantic preference in this matter. Horace, 
Virgil, Livy, Aristotle, and other cropt names I use as 
everybody else does in familiar writing and parlance. 
But in a history or a translation, where the purpose is 
mainly to carry the reader's mind back to ancient times 
and scenes, it is surely right to avoid those distortions 
of sound in old names which leave the mind under an 
erroneous impression. How can we without absurdity call 
the son of Miltiades (Kimon) by the title of Simon, thus 
confounding him with St Peter, or with the magician 
who has given name to the offence of simony ? I go as 
far as Mr Grote has gone, but no farther. He does not 
write the ending -os, but -us ; not Athenae, but Athens ; 
not Peisandrus, Alexandrus, Philippus, but Peisander, 
Alexander, Philip : and in many other instances he 
defers, and I with him, to that inconsistent but all- 
powerful dictator, Custom, 

Quern penes arbitrium est et ius et norma loquendi. 

Believe me, 

My dear Lord Lytton, 
With sincere thanks, 

Yours very faithfully, 

B. H. KENNEDY. 

The Elms, Cambridge, 

June ist, i £74. 



INTRODUCTION. 



§ i. THE origin of the Greek drama, comic as well 
as tragic, is traced to the festivals of the Wine-god 
Dionysus or Bacchus. All such feasts were naturally 
mirthful ; some were licentious also. In those fre- 
quented by the higher classes, a Chorus danced round 
the altar of the god, singing lyric songs, called i dithy- 
rambic/ in which were celebrated the legends of Dio- 
nysus, with the praises of the vine and its produce. A 
recitative by a single actor, addressed to the spectators 
in the intervals between these songs, was the first step 
in the gradual development of the Greek tragic drama. 
The choral dancers were disguised as Satyrs, the merry 
goat-footed companions of the wine-god. Hence, pro- 
bably, and not, as many have supposed, from a goat- 
sacrifice or a goat-prize, arose the name of Tragedy, 
Tragoedia or Goat-song. Hence, too, in the tragic 
contests at Athens, one of the four plays produced by 
each competing poet was a drama called Satyric, in 
which the Chorus consisted of Satyrs. Such is The 
Cyclops, which appears among the works of Euripides. 

Here we quit the topic of Greek Tragedy. The 
works of K. O. Muller and Mure on Greek Literature, 



x INTR OD UCTION. 

The Greek Theatre by Donaldson, and the Grecian 
Histories of Thirlwall, Grote and E. Curtius, supply- 
ample information on this subject. See also The Greek 
Poets, by Mr J. A. Symonds, a truly genial volume, not 
less interesting than instructive, from which, by the 
author's kind permission, some extracts appear in this 
Introduction. 

§ 2. The more licentious festivals were those of the 
vintage, celebrated by the rural population. In these 
the singing and dancing were often of a riotous and 
ribald character. The phallus-emblem was carried in 
procession, and extolled, as the comrade of Bacchus, 
in songs called phallic or ithyphallic, of which a speci- 
men exists in Aristophanes {Acharn. 261 — 279). The 
procession of choral revellers (Komus) went in carts 
from house to house, from village to village; and their 
songs alternated with the speech of a single actor, who, 
in order to amuse the rustic crowds and provoke their 
laughter, assailed with scandalous ridicule and gro- 
tesque caricature all persons present or absent, all 
things sacred or profane, from which materials could be 
drawn to serve his purpose. Such was the origin of 
Comedy, Comoedia,the Komus-song: an explanation now 
justly preferred to that of Village-song, by which, as Ari- 
stotle says (Poet. Ill), the Dorians, who called a village 
Kome, supported their claim to the invention of the 
comic drama. Hence the verb 'komoedein' (to comoe- 
dize) means 'to ridicule' or 'caricature 1 .' Another name 

1 The verb 'iambizein' (to iambize) has a similar meaning; but 
it has no relation to Dionysus or the drama, although the 'iambic' 



INTRODUCTION. xi 

designating Comedy is Trugoedia, the song of the 
Truges or Wine-lees, with which the vintagers, when 
singing and acting, reddened their faces ; though some, 
less probably, suppose this term to imply a prize of rich 
wine bestowed on the best singer or actor. In the vin- 
tage-songs, then, we find the original of the comic 
chorus ; and in the interlude of the actor the primal 
germ both of the dialogue and also of the comic para- 
basis, the railing parts being especially represented by 
the pungent allusions usually contained in the epir- 
rhema and antepirrhema. See Appendix. 

§ 3. The growth of Comedy was slower and its 
development later than that of Tragedy. Its first ap- 
pearance in Greece is assigned by Aristotle {Poet. Ill) to 
the small Doric state of Megaris, between Attika and 
the Peloponnese : and the phaenomenon is ascribed to 
the license of democratic polity. Hence Meineke fixes 
the date of this comic outburst about the 43rd or 44th 
Olympiad, after the expulsion of Theagenes, tyrant of 
Megara, who had assisted his son-in-law Kylon in his 
attempt on the Athenian Akropolis. The Megarian 
comic poet of that age (about B.C. 600) was Susarion of 
Tripodiskus, son of Philinus, who is said by scholiasts 

became the metre of dramatic dialogue. Legend refers it, but 
without probability, to the mysteries of Demeter. There is more 
historic truth in the tradition which ascribes to Archilochus the in- 
vention of iambic rhythm, and its application to the purpose of 
invective. 'Archilochum proprio rabies armavit iambo,' says 
Horace. But here, as often, the exact truth cannot be discovered 
through the dimness of the past. — See K. O. Muller, Hist, of Gr. 
Lit. ch. XI. § 5. 



xii INTR OD UCTION. 

to have transferred his stage to the Ikarian borough 
within the confines of Attika, where the rustic rites of 
Dionysus were specially renowned (Meineke, Hist. Com. 
Gr. I. 48). Susarion is cited as the first comic author 
who composed metrically and not extemporaneously. 
Megarian comedy was noted for the broadness and 
coarseness of its humour. A Megarian jest became 
proverbial; and Aristophanes in The Wasps (v. 57) dis- 
claims the intention of stealing his wit from Megara. 
The names of Maeson, Mullus, and a few more, are 
recorded as having produced comedies in the Megarian 
manner after Susarion. 

§ 4. Comedy is next heard of in Sicily, the Mega- 
rians of Greece having probably conveyed it to their 
Sicilian colony, the Hyblaean Megara. Aristotle and 
others mention the comic poet Phormis or Phormus, 
who was tutor to the children of Gelon at Syracuse. 
Junior to him, but far more illustrious, was Epicharmus, 
a native of Kos, whose father Helothales migrated from 
that island to Sicily when his son was an infant. Epi- 
charmus was renowned not only in comedy, but also in 
medicine (being probably one of the Koan Asklepiads) 
and in the Pythagorean philosophy. He lived to ex- 
treme old age, as late as the 84th Olympiad, but his 
poetic fame belongs chiefly to the years B. C. 500 — 480. 
His plays were various in subject and style : some my- 
thic caricatures, as The Busiris and The Hephaestus ; 
others portraying character and manners in a philosophic 
spirit, as The Agrostinus or Countryman ; others treating 
of historic or political matter in a similar spirit, as The 
Harpagae (Plunderings) and The Nasoi (Islands). His 



INTRODUCTION. xm 

only successor in Sicilian comedy was Deinolochus, 
who is variously represented as his son and as his dis- 
ciple. But about fifty years later the Sicilian Sophron 
excelled in a species of drama called Mimes. These 
dealt with manners and morals ; but K, O. Miiller 
(Dorians VIL) thinks they were not brought on the stage. 
The reputation of Epicharmus in Greece was very high ; 
Plato (Theaet) says that he was pre-eminent in his own 
poetic sphere, as Homer in the Epic. See Bernhardy, 
(Gr. Lit II. 454, &c). 

§ 5. The tragic drama was theatrically represented 
at Athens at least fifty years before Comedy was 
recognized there by legal provision for the maintenance 
of a chorus (choragia). Aristotle mentions, as the ear- 
liest poets of the old comedy at Athens, Chionides and 
Magnes, with whom must be joined the name of Ek- 
phantides. It is very improbable that they were 
actively at work before the close of the Persian Wars 
B.C. 479: but Grote is hardly right in placing them so 
late as the 80th Olympiad, B. C. 460. Their immediate 
successors were the famous Kratinus, whom the Latin 
poet Persius aptly calls ' the bold,' and Krates, to whom 
the organism of the comic stage was probably indebted 
for improvement. Kratinus it was, we cannot doubt, 
who, if not first, yet most vigorously and successfully, 
asserted for a comic poet the right of speaking as a 
1 censor morum/ a critic and a judge of morals public 
and private. The dramatic career of Kratinus, which 
did not cease till his death B. C. 423, began as early as 
the 82nd Olympiad at latest : and we may well suppose 
that the virulence of his ridicule occasioned the enact- 



xiv INTROD UCTION. 

ment of the law B. C. 440, which forbade the introduction 
of living characters in comedy. This law was repealed 
within two years: and the high-minded Perikles, in his 
administration, bore unflinchingly the pelting of the 
pitiless comic storm in the yearly contests of the Wine- 
god: thus manifesting his moral courage, his just self- 
reliance, his confidence in the good sense of the people, 
and his reverence for poetic art. 

§ 6. " The Old Comedy" (says E. Curtius), "drawing its topics 
of censure from present society and every-day life, could exercise in- 
fluence and achieve success in no condition but that of unrestrained 
democracy, which it attends through every grade of development 
Occupied from the first with the ridiculous in human action and 
character, it chastised with a keen scourge all errors, follies and 
weaknesses, of which it found an ample store in a society so busy 
and conspicuous as that of Athens, having an audience alive to wit 
and prone to laughter, ready to understand and enjoy every allu- 
sion, even when conveyed with the most covert irony. All abuses 
and inconsistencies of public as well as private life were exposed to 
the comic lash. This the poet regarded as his grandest function. 
Without the stimulus of a great patriotic purpose, his work would 
have seemed to him a mere tissue of jokes and gibes, poor and 
despicable. His design was not to amuse only, but also to instruct 
and guide the people ; and in this object Comedy shewed itself a 
true sister of Tragedy." 

Bernhardy says (11. 961) : 

" The Old Comedy has a political character ; it exercises the 
functions of a political censorship, and also, like a powerful pam- 
phlet, it asserts public opinion for the first time with unfettered 
freedom of speech. Every one of its Plays throws light on the 
social condition of the State in some one important particular, 
holding up at the same time a mirror in which is reflected the 
general character of the whole." 



INTRODUCTION. xv 

§ 7. This boldness of the Old Attic Comedy grew 
out of the consciousness of its peculiar origin. It knew 
itself descended from a Bacchanalian chorus of rustics, 
full of new wine : a chorus, whose motto was free 
licence, whose rule was to be without rule ; who sang 
improvised songs of reverence or ribaldry, in which the 
beautiful sank to the base and the base rose to the 
beautiful in strange alternation : whose mimic dances 
were graceful or indecorous as the feeling of the mo- 
ment prompted; who, when song and dance flagged, 
could listen with keen delight to the cleverest and wit- 
tiest of their crew, as, mounted on a cart, he showered 
around, in extempore recitative, his darts of unbridled 
and unsparing ridicule, which sparkled as they flew, and 
stung wherever they fell. All these things — song, dance, 
and recitation — we find comprised in any perfect para- 
basis of the Attic Comedy. The parabasis is the nu- 
cleus around which the other parts have grown. The 
plot, the action, all that is properly called drama, is an 
artistic development, achieved by the genius and skill 
of successive poets, to whom we cannot, for want of 
accurate information, assign the shares severally due. 

§ 8. To the Old Attic Comedy may be ascribed 
a duration of about eighty years, ending with the Se- 
cond Plutits of Aristophanes, B. C. 389, which marks the 
transition to the Middle Comedy. But its flourishing 
period cannot be estimated at more than fifty-six years, 
ending with the capture of Athens by Lysander B. c. 404. 
The Middle Comedy of Athens was itself superseded by 
the New (of Menander, Philemon, and Diphilus) about 
the time of Alexander's death, B.C. 323. Forty poets 



xvi INTRODUCTION. 

(didaskaloi) of the Old Comedy are recorded by gram- 
marians and biographers. The three most eminent of 
these are linked in fame by Horace, 

Eupolis atque Cratinus Aristophanesque poetae. 

Sat. I. iv. I. 

Persius places them in just chronological order: 

Audaci quicumque afflate Cratino 
Iratum Eupolidem praegrandi cum sene palles. 

I. 123. 

Of the rest, those who deserve special notice 1 are Krates 
(see § 5), Pherekrates, Telekleides, Hermippus, Phryni- 
chus, Ameipsias (whose Komastae gained the prize 
against The Birds of Aristophanes), Plato (Comicus), 
Theopompus and Strattis. The last three continued to 
compose in the Middle Comedy also. The titles of 
about 390 comedies of these authors are handed down : 
the fragments of which are collected and arranged by 
Meineke, Fragm. Com. Gr. The only perfect works 
are the eleven plays of Aristophanes. 

§ 9. Little is known of the life of Aristophanes ; 
and that little is chiefly drawn from his extant works. 
Even the dates of his birth and death are uncertain. 

1 The full list is : Chionides, Magnes, Ekphantides, Kratinus, 
Krates, Pherekrates, Telekleides, Hermippus, Myrtilus, Eupolis, 
Philonides, Phrynichus, Aristophanes, Ameipsias, Archippus, Aris- 
tomenes, Kallias, Lysippus, Leukon, Metagenes, Aristagoras, Plato, 
Theopompus, Strattis, Aristonymus, Alkaeus, Eunikus, Kantharus, 
Diokles, Nikochares, Nikophon, Philyllius, Polyzelus, Sannyrion, 
Apollophanes, Epilykus, Euthykles, Demetrius, Kephisodorus, 
Autokrates. — See Meineke, I.; Bernhardy, Gr. Lit. II. 515, &c. 
On Magnes, Kratinus and Krates, see The Knights, vv. 520 — 544. 



INTR OD UCTION. xvii 

For the former B.C. 452 and B. C. 448 are suggested by 
different scholars, for the latter B. C. 380. His father's 
name was Philippus, who seems to have been a landed 
proprietor in the isle of Aegina, and some think the 
poet was born there; which will account, in this view, 
for his strong disposition to be at peace with the Pelo- 
ponnesians. Fifty-four comedies are ascribed to him by 
some biographers, of which Bergk allows forty-three 
only to be genuine. See B. ap. Mein. Fr. Com. Gr. II. 
p. 2. Some of these were exhibited under the names of 
Kallistratus and Philonides, most in his own name. His 
first play, The Banqueters, was acted B. C. 428 (Clinton 
427) in the name of Philonides. It was designed to 
ridicule and reprobate degenerate novelties in education 
at Athens. In the next year appeared The Babylo- 
nians, directed against the vices of election to office by 
lot. This is said to have provoked against Kallistratus, 
in whose name it appeared, a process conducted by 
Kleon without success. 

§ 10. The extant Comedies appeared in the fol- 
lowing order : — 

1. B. c. 426 (CI. 425). The Achamians, condemning the war 
Dolicy of Athens (in the name of Kallistratus). 

2. B. c. 425 (CI. 424). The Knights, assailing the person and 
policy of Kleon. 

3. B. c. 424 (CI. 423). The (first) Clouds, against the Sophists 
mpersonated in Sokrates. 

4. B. C 423 (CI. 422). The Wasps, against the litigation pre- 
valent. at Athens (in the name of Philonides). 

5. B. c. 422 (CI. 419). The Peace; fable of its conclusion and 
'ejoicings thereon. 

6. B. c. 414. The Birds, during the Sicilian expedition : scope 
questionable (in the name of Kallistratus). 

b 




INTR OD UCTION. 



7. B.C. 411. Lysistraiaj against the war, from women's point 
of view. 

8. B.C. 411. Thesmophoriaziisaej ridicule of Agathon, of Euri- 
pides, and of women. 

[B. c. 408. The (first) Phdus\. 

9. B. c. 405. The Frogs; dramatic criticism, extolling Aeschylus, 
censuring Euripides. 

10. B. C. 393 (CI. 392). Ekklesiazusae ; new social system under 
female laws. 

11. B.C. 389 (CI. 388). The (second) Plutusj redistribution of 
wealth on the principle of merit. 

§ 11. The personal character of Aristophanes was 
evidently respected by his contemporaries. In proof of 
this, we need only cite Plato, who, in his Dialogue called 
The Symposium, gives an honourable place beside his 
master Sokrates to the very comic poet, who had 
covered that master and his school with ridicule in The - 
Clouds. The splendour of his genius is said to be 
commemorated by the same great philosopher, in 
the epigram which one of the poet's biographers haa 
preserved : — 

" The Graces sought a shrine which ne'er should fall, 
And found the soul of Aristophanes." 

§ 12. The character of his genius and style is 
admirably portrayed by Mr Symonds (The Greek Poetsl 
p. 234, &c) :— 

" In approaching Aristophanes we must divest our minds of all 
the ordinary canons and definitions of Comedy : we must forget/ 
what we have learned from Plautus and Terence, from Moliere 
and Jonson. No modern poet, except perhaps Shakespeare and 
Calderon in parts, will help us to understand him. We must not' 
expect to find the gist of Aristophanes in vivid portraits of cha- 
racter, in situations borrowed from eveiy-day life, in witty dialogues. 



INTR OD UCTION. 



in carefully constructed plots arriving at felicitous conclusions. All 
these elements, indeed, he has, — but these are not the main points 
of his art. His plays are not comedies in the sense in which we 
use the word, but scenic allegories; Titanic farces in which the 
whole world is turned upside down ; transcendental travesties, 
enormous orgies of wild fancy and unbridled imagination, Dionysiac 
dances in which tears are mingled with laughter, and fire with wine ; 
choruses that, underneath their oceanic merriment of leaping waves, 
hide silent deeps of unstirred thought. If Coleridge was justified 
in claiming the word Lustpiel for the so-called comedies of 
Shakespeare, we have a far greater right to appropriate this wide 

and pregnant title to the plays of Aristophanes Nor is it 

only by this unearthly splendour of visionary loveliness that Aristo- 
phanes attracts us. Beauty of a more mundane and sensual sort is 
his. Multitudes of brilliant ever-changing figures fill the scene ; 
and here and there we find a landscape or a. piece of music and 
moonlight glowing with the presence of the vintage-god. Bacchic 
processions of young men and maidens move before us, tossing 
inspired heads wreathed with jasmine flowers and wet with wine. 
The Mystae in the meadows of Elysium dance their rounds with 
the clash of cymbals and with madly twinkling snow-white feet. 
We catch glimpses at intervals of Athenian banquets, of midnight 
serenades, of the palaestra with its crowd of athletes, of the Pan- 
athenaic festival as Pheidias carved it, of all the busy rhythmic- 
coloured life of Greece Aristophanes was preserved in 

his integrity, we need not doubt, because he shone forth as a -poet 
(transcendent for his splendour even among the most brilliant of 
Attic playwrights. Cratinus may have equalled or surpassed him 
in keen satire : Eupolis may have rivalled him in exquisite artistic 
structure ; but Aristophanes must have eclipsed them, not merely 
by uniting their qualities successfully, but also by the exhibition of 

some diviner faculty, some higher spiritual afflatus 

Aristophanes is a poet as Shelley or Ariosto or Shakespeare is a 
jpoet, far more than as Sophocles or Pindar or Lucretius is a poet. 
In spite of his profound art, we seem to hear him uttering his 
r native woodnotes wild.' The subordination of the fancy to the 
(fixed aims of the reason, which characterizes classical poetry, is not 
at first sight striking in Aristophanes ; but he splendidly exhibits 
the wealth, luxuriance, variety and subtlety of the fancy working 

b2 



xx INTRODUCTION. 

with the reason, and sometimes superseding it, which we recognize 

in the greatest modern poets Perhaps the most splendid 

passages of true poetry in Aristophanes are the choruses of the 
initiated in The Frogs, the chorus of The Clouds before they ap- 
pear upon the stage, the invitation to the nightingale and the 
parabasis in The Birds, the speech of Dikaios Logos in The Clouds, 
some of the praises of rustic life in The Peace, the serenade (not- 
withstanding its coarse satire) in The Ecclesiaztisae, and the songs 
of Spartan and Athenian maidens in The Lysistrata. The charm 
of these marvellous lyrical episodes consists of their perfect sim- 
plicity and freedom. They seem to be poured forth as ' profuse 
strains of unpremeditated art ? from the fulness of the poet's soul. 
Their language is elastic, changeful, finely-tempered, fitting the 
delicate thought like a veil of woven air. It has no Pindaric invo- 
lution, no Aeschylean pompousness, no studied Sophoclean subtlety, 
no Euripidean concetti. It is always bright and Attic, sparkling 
like the many-twinkling laughter of the breezy sea, or like the light 
of morning upon rain-washed olive branches. But this poetry is 
never very deep or passionate. It cannot stir us with the intensity 
of Sappho, with the fire and madness of the highest inspiration. 
Indeed, the conditions of Comedy precluded Aristophanes, even had 
he desired it, which we have no reason to suspect, from attempting 
the more august movements of lyric poetry. The peculiar glories 
of his style are its untutored beauties, the improvised perfection 
and unerring exactitude of natural expression, for which it is un- 
paralleled by that of any other Greek poet. In her most delightful 
moments the muse of Aristophanes suggests an almost plaintive 
pathos, as if behind the comic mask there were a thinking, feeling 
human soul ; as if the very uproar of the Bacchic merriment implied 
some afterthought of sadness." 



§ 13. The same eloquent writer— after slightly al- 
luding to the trite and familiar topics of Aristophanic 
lore, and affirming that, hackneyed as these are, Aris- 
tophanes has never been really appreciated at his worth 
except by a few scholars and enthusiastic poets— pro- 
ceeds to assign reasons for this want of intelligence in 






INTR OD UCTIOiV. xxi 

his case. Among those reasons he specially dwells on 
one as the most influential : ' It is hard/ he says, ' for the 
modern Christian world to tolerate his freedom of speech 
and coarseness.' Mr Symonds treats this delicate ques- 
tion with consummate skill, and his discussion of it (pp. 
238 — 246) may be commended to the careful attention 
of our readers ; though to cite it at full lies beyond 
the scope of this Introduction. The truth of the matter 
is, that grossness was to Aristophanes a necessary 
element of his dramatic art The Old Comedy was the 
child and representative of free Bacchic licence, re- 
appearing twice a-year at the Athenian festivals of 
Dionysus, the Dionysia of the city in March, and the 
Lenaea in January. Aristophanes, a comic poet by 
profession, competing for a prize, which his tribe, his 
choragus, and his own credit, spurred him on to win, 
could not afford to withhold from the Athenian crowds — 
inebriate with the loose merriment of the feasts, which 
were as much a part of their religion as Christmas and 
Easter are of ours — that high-spiced seasoning of in- 
delicate ribaldry, which they deemed essential to the 
, completeness of Comedy as well as to the fun of the 
: time and their own lawful enjoyment. The tragedy of 
Hamlet with the part of Hamlet left out, a play of 
Etherege or Wycherley without the libertinism which 

■ a licentious age expected and relished, the pranks of 
I Punch moralized to the taste of Hannah More, a 

■ modern pantomime omitting the clown with his jests 
i and tricks — none of these things would be more in- 
congruous than one of the old Attic comedies without a 
certain sprinkling of indecent humour. If the wreck of 



xxii INTROD UCTION. 



ages had spared to us the plays of Kratinus and 
Ameipsias, which were judged superior to The Clouds, 
and The Komastae of Ameipsias, which gained the first 
prize against The Birds, we may shrewdly suspect that 
among the merits of the winning comedies would be 
found their larger and bolder coarseness. By their free 
infusion of this element it is probable that The Acharnians 
and The Knights secured the victory : and the defeat of 
his finest work, The Birds, may have impelled Aristo- 
phanes to bid for popular favour by the more impure 
excesses of The Lysistrata and The Thcsmophoriazusac. 
Such, in heathen days, at two seasons of the year, were 
the spectacles of the Athenians, whose women and 
children were excluded from the theatre. Whether 
times and nations nominally Christian have a just right 
to boast themselves in comparison with those heathens, 
is a problem for the historian and the moralist to settle 
between them. There may be some truth in the remark 
of Rotscher [Aristophanes und sein Zeitalter, p. 39) that 

" the very people whose plays and poems are of the most frivo- 
lous kind, turn away with most disgust from works of art, in which 
sensuality preserves its real form, because their own propensities 
' and habits are therein divested of their fair outside, and shewn in 
natural and naked ugliness. Their dislike of such works is but 
another name for the unwillingness to behold their own nature 
stript of all hypocritical disguise." 

§ 14. It remains to consider Aristophanes as a 
politician. On this subject we have an extensive litera- 
ture, German, English and French. Most of its writers 
arc favourable to the poet; among the Germans, 
Ranke, Bergk, Meineke, E. Curtius, K. O. Muller 



r 



IN J ROD UCTION. xxiii 

Klein, etc. ; in England, Bishop Thirlwall, in his History 
of Greece, ch. xxxii., and Bishop Cotton (Aristophanes, in 
the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biogr. and Mythol). 
On the other side, a host in himself, though not alone 
(see Droysen's Version, and Miiller-Strubing,yir^/^//^;/^ 
ttnd die Historisclie Kritik), stands Mr Grote, who, in his 
History of Greece (Part II. ch. lxvii.), as a champion of 
Kleon and of Sokrates, passes sentence of condemnation 
on our poet as a reckless and mischievous, though 
highly ingenious, calumniator and libeller. After study- 
ing the comedies themselves and their contemporary 
history, and comparing the elaborate judgments of 
Thirlwall on the one side and Grote on the other, the 
careful student will probably see, with Mr Symonds, 

" that a middle course must be followed between the extremes 
of regarding Aristophanes as an indecent parasite pandering to the 
worst inclinations of the Athenian rabble, and of looking upon him 
as a profound philosopher and sober patriot." 

§ 15. Political feeling and action were essential to 
Aristophanes. He was a citizen of Athens. He reached 
manhood at a time when Athens had a purely democratic 
constitution. All public questions of chief moment were 
decided by the votes of the Ekklesia, or Assembly of 
the people ; and in this Assembly every citizen of 
man's estate had not only a right, but a rule of duty 
directing him, to attend and vote. Aristophanes was a 
politician, therefore, were it only because he was a 
citizen. But more than this — he was a man of genius 
and literary accomplishment : he was by nature and 
habit a thinker and a comic poet. How could such a 
man, in such a state as Athens, be without political 



xxvi INTROD UCTION. 



the virulent and scornful enmity with which on every 
occasion he assails the Sophists and Rhetoricians of his 
time, the innovators in literature, morals and education. 
Gorgias, Prodikus, and other lecturers of this class, fall 
under his lash ; the cloudy thoughts and flimsy language 
of the dithyrambic versifiers, especially of Kinesias, 
are mercilessly caricatured. The conceited tragedies of 
Ag-athon are covered with ridicule. But the bete noire oi 
Aristophanes in literature is Euripides ; in education, 
Sokrates. Euripides, the pupil of Anaxagoras, and 
dramatic representative of the Rhetorical school, the 
poet of whining pathos, captious subtleties, and cavilling 
morality, is pursued by Aristophanes even after death 
with unsparing persiflage and keen invective. Dikaio- 
polis, in The Acharnians, sues to him for the cast-off rags 
of his lachrymose and mendicant heroes. In The Thes- 
mophoriazusae, where the women conspire to punish him 
for his libels on the female sex, the scenes and sayings 
of his tragedies are parodied in the most absurd 
fashion. The comedy of The Frogs, which Droysen 
justly commends as second in merit to The Birds alone, 
was produced in the year after the death of Euripides. 
Dionysus, the tutelary god of the drama, undertakes 
to recover for the desolate stage a tragic poet from 
the shadowy realm. He descends thither with a pre- 
judice and (as it would seem) a promise in favour of 
Euripides. But Aeschylus occupies the tragic throne 
below, and will not resign it to the younger rival, 
whose claim he despises. A literary contest ensues, in 
which hard and fierce words are exchanged between the 



INTROD UCTION. xxvii 

angry bards, Dionysus sitting as judge. The result 
deceives the high-raised hopes of Euripides. ' Remem- 
ber,' cries he, ' the gods by whom you swore to carry me 
back/ 'My tongue hath sworn/ says Dionysus, 'but 
Aeschylus I shall choose/ cruelly parodying a verse of 
Euripides himself, 

"The tongue hath sworn, the mind remains unsworn.'' 

§ 1 8. What the drama of The Knights was for 
Kleon, and The Frogs for Euripides, Aristophanes in- 
tended The Clouds to be for Sokrates — a comic pillory. 
The high-born youth of Athens, with Alkibiades at their 
head, flocked for conversational instruction to the lectures 
of that great man, who knew how to teach winningly 
and effectually, by a catechetic method of his own. 
Aristophanes seems to have regarded him as the most 
influential and dangerous teacher in that Sophistic 
school against which his own first literary work, The 
Banqueters, had been written. In that non-extant 
comedy, he contrasted the characters of two young men, 
the one Decorous, the other Dissolute : the former 
educated in the old Athenian fashion, the latter on the 
most approved model of the new Sophistic school. See 
Nub. 537. The same idea recurs in The Clouds, but 
worked out in a different manner. Sokrates there ap- 
pears in his Hall of Contemplation, as the great Master 
of Sophistry, the teacher of lessons inculcating nothing 
short of the most barefaced irreligion and immorality. 
The controversies arising upon this comedy cannot be 
considered here. They are amply discussed in Thirl- 
wall's and Grote's Histories of Greece, in K. O. M tiller's 






xxviii INTROD UCTION. 



and Bernhardys Histories of Greek Literature, and in 
Suvern's Essay on The Clouds. It seems absurd to sup- 
pose that The Clouds had any influence in determining 
the judicial murder of Sokrates twenty-four years after- 
wards. It failed to secure the first or second prize; 
and, although Aristophanes revised his work, and pre- 
pared a second edition, which is the drama we now 
possess, yet, if this was reproduced on the Athenian 
stage (a doubtful point), it was again unsuccessful. 

§ 19. The lampoons of Aristophanes are not to be 
defended on ethical grounds, whether we abandon them 
to the stern censure of Mr Grote, or seek shelter for 
them in the milder appreciation of Bishop Thirlwall. 
It is not in the jests and sketches of Punch, or Va7iity 
Fair, or Figaro, or Kladderadatsch, that we look for 
the pure abstractions of moral truth. The personali- 
ties of the Old Comedy, like its grossness, came ' ex 
kamaxes ;' they were a part of the Bacchic licence, 
the wares of the ancient waggon. The men of Athens 
of all classes, from the statesman to the scavenger, 
filled the theatre twice a year for the sake of fun and 
frolic ; and these they found, not in serious tragic 
verities, but (like Londoners flocking to a Christmas 
pantomime) in extravagant buffooneries, which, pre- 
tending to be true, set truth itself at defiance. Who 
can imagine for a single instant, that the outrageous 
calumnies heaped on Kleon or Sokrates obtained cre- 
dence, or were supposed by the poet to obtain credence, 
with any portion of the Athenian audience ? They were 
ingredients in the mirth of the feast, designed mainly to 
provoke laughter ; and were in fact more amusing, in 



INTROD UCTION. xxix 

proportion as their exaggeration was more amazing. 
There is nothing to hinder us from believing that the 
same artisan, who to-day listened with greedy ear and 
chuckling delight to the libellous insolence of the 
Sausage-seller in The Knights, would hold up his hand 
to-morrow with unabated zeal for Kleon's measures in 
the Ekklesia. No facts in history lead us to suppose 
that Comedy exercised an important political influence. 
Nor should it be forgotten that Aristophanes caters to 
the amusement of his audience, not only by exag- 
gerating in the most ridiculous manner the imputed 
sins and follies of others, but also by enhancing his own 
merits and claims, or his assumed wrongs, with ironical 
absurdity, thus, in fact, provoking laughter at his own 
expense. How racy, for instance, is the humour of the 
following passage in the parabasis of The Achamians 
(643, etc.), the third comedy composed by Aristophanes, 
and not produced, any more than the former two, in his 
own name ! How typical is it of the audacious irony 
of modern advertisers, when they bring themselves or 
their inventions for the first time before a gaping public 
with the attractive epithet ' World-renowned ! ' 

" All the envoys conveying you tribute will come from the cities, 
desiring to gaze on 

This most excellent poet who ventured to speak in the ears of 
Athenians plain justice. 

And so far does the fame of his courage extend, that the Great 
King, examining lately 

The Lakonian ambassadors, questioned them first, of the par- 
ties engaged in the struggle 

Which was stronger in ships, and then, which of the twain 
from this poet got plenty of scolding: 



xxx INTRODUCTION. 



These, he said, became braver by far, and in war they would 

conquer, obtaining such counsel. 
Hence the Lakedaemonians offer you peace, and would have 

you restore them Aegina, 
Though they care not a fig for that island, not they ; only 

want to win from you this poet." 

The freedom with which Aristophanes ventures to ridicule 
and caricature the deities of Greece is explained by the 
same tradition of unbridled licence in the Vintage-feast, 
which made all things in heaven and earth subject to its 
drunken dominion. Dionysus himself, its patron-god, 
figures in The Frogs as a poltroon, and is scourged as a 
vagabond in Orcus, to the greater glory of himself and 
his festival. The funniest scenes in The Birds are those 
which introduce Prometheus the deserter, Herakles the 
gourmand, and Triballus, a barbarian god of comic 
coinage. 

§ 20. The literary career of Aristophanes falls into 
three distinct periods. The first of these, commencing 
with The Banqueters, B.C. 428, and The Babylonians in 427, 
includes the first five extant comedies, ending with The 
Peace, B.C. 422 ; and three others not extant also belong 
to this period, The Merchantmen, The Farmers, and The 
Proagon. During those years the democratic constitu- 
tion of Athens was in full force, and Aristophanes exer- 
cises the most unrestrained freedom of speech on political 
facts, principles, and persons. An interval of seven years 
succeeds, during which there is no record of plays com- 
posed by Aristophanes, though we can hardly suppose 
his genius was lying fallow through the vigorous season 
of manhood. Those were years of nominal peace be- 



INTR OD UCTION. xxxi 

tween Athens and the Peloponnesians. But the warlike 
temper was only smouldering, till the ambition of Alki- 
biades, who was now in competition with Nikias for the 
leadership, could find a good opportunity to blow it into 
flame again. An occasion at length presented itself in 
the quarrels of the Sicilian states ; one of which, Egesta, 
solicited the aid of Athens. This the Athenians, at the 
instigation of Alkibiades, and against the advice of 
Nikias, undertook to give, nominally for the protection of 
their allies, but really with the rash design of capturing 
Syracuse, and conquering the whole island, B.C. 415. 

§ 21. With this era begins the second period of our 
poet's literary career. He brought out, in the name of 
Philonides, a play called Amphiaraus, at the Lenaea; 
and at the Dionysia of the city, B.C. 414, in the name of 
Kallistratus he produced The Birds, This, the most 
imaginative and captivating of his works, obtained the 
second prize only, the first being awarded to The Komastae 
of Ameipsias, the third to The Monotropus of Phrynichus. 
The same period comprises The Lysistrata and The 
Thesmophoriazusae, B.C. 411, the first Plulus, B.C. 408, 
and The Frogs, B.C. 405. It was, politically speaking, 
a time of revolution, struggle, and disaster domestic and 
foreign, when the minds of the Athenians were tossed to 
and fro with doubts, difficulties and alarms. It began 
with a secret conspiracy against the democratic constitu- 
tion ; which, after the Sicilian calamity, was overthrown 
in 411, and an oligarchy of four hundred established. 
That usurpation did not long endure : but with revived 
democracy calm was not restored, and, after a few years 
of alternating success and defeat, Lysander's victory at 



xxxii INTROD UCTION. 



Aegospotami and his capture of Athens, B.C. 404, sub- 
jugated the city for a time to the narrower and more 
cruel domination of the Thirty. 

§ 22. Few thoughtful minds* pass through a long > 
revolutionary time without some variation of feeling and 
opinion. But there is no proof that any violent change 
occurred in the sentiments of Aristophanes. Hostile as 
he was to democratic excess, and partial to the prin- 
ciples and habits of olden days, he shews no sympathy 
with the schemes of the oligarchic faction. But we 
cannot fail to recognise in his comedies of this middle 
period a certain reticence and caution, contrasting very 
strikingly with the outspoken audacity of his earlier 
works. If in The Birds there is any political purpose — 
which is a disputed question — that purpose is covert, 
and studiously disguised. Allusions to passing events 
and personal character are few, and expressed with more 
cf irony than virulence. In The Thesmophoriazusae there 
is nothing political ; in The Frogs next to nothing. In The 
Lysistrata, the poet gives free scope to his hatred of the 
war; but this he might safely do when his country had just 
sustained a military reverse so terrible as the destruction 
of its army and fleet in Sicily. And his anti-warlike 
sentiments are expressed with more security by being 
ascribed to women, and associated with a ludicrous in- 
surrection of the Athenian and Spartan wives against 
marital authority. Upon the whole, then, we may say 
that the Muse of Aristophanes, in this middle period of 
her career, shews herself a much more prudential per- 
sonage than during the first part of the Peloponnesian 
war. And well might she deport herself modestly in 



INTRO JD UCTION. xxxiii 



times when political faction had begun to arm against 
the foes who annoyed it, not only the fatal ballot of the 
tribunal, but also the secret poniard of the assassin. 

§ 23. The third and last Aristophanic period con- 
tains only two extant plays, The Ekklesiazusae, and the 
second Plutus. They were acted some years after the 
expulsion of the Thirty. But though democracy was 
now finally restored by the victories of Thrasybulus and 
Konon, the wings of Comedy had been dipt in the 
archonship of Eukleides ; personalities were restrained, 
and the parabasis disused. The Pitches indeed belongs 
rather to the Middle than to the Old Comedy. In The 
Ekklesiazusae, by burlesquing the Platonic theory of 
communism, our poet shews himself what he was from 
the outset, a staunch opponent of new lights in philo- 
sophy, morals, and politics. But this play, though it 
often sparkles with his brilliant wit, is inferior on the 
whole as a work of art, besides being intolerably gross. 
Among the comedies written by him later still, towards 
the close of his life, we have the names of three, Kokalns, 
Tagenistae, Aiolosikon. The last of these he is said to 
have left for his son Araros to produce. The dates of 
his other Comedies are uncertain. On that called Gems 
■ (Old Age) see Suvern's Essay, published at the end of 
his Essay on The Clouds. 

§ 24. A literary controversy has gathered round The 
Birds as round The Clouds. The scope and plan of the 
drama are the question in dispute. Is it a purely his- 
torical allegory ? Is it a philosophical allegory ? Is it an 
allegory at all ? Or is it merely a work of the imagina- 
tion, a poetic Lustspiel^ a Midsummer Nights Dream f 

c 



xxxiv INTRODUCTION. 

§ 25. The discussion of this question was opened 
about half a century ago, by the remarkable Essay of 
Professor Suvern, read in 1825 before the Royal Aca- 
demy of Sciences at Berlin, and translated into English 
by Mr W. R. Hamilton in 1836. The purpose of this 
treatise is to shew that in The Birds is found a purely 
historical allegory, explained by the Sicilian expedition 
and the parties concerned in it. The design of capturing 
Syracuse and conquering Sicily is typified by the found- 
ation of the Bird-city, Cloudcuckooborough. The Athe- 
nians are represented chiefly by the Birds, partly also 
by men. The gods signify the Lakedaemonians and 
their chief allies : the walling out and starving of the 
gods implies a blockade of Peloponnesus by Athenian 
fleets commanding the Mediterranean. Iris is an es- 
caped Peloponnesian galley. The Hoopoe with his 
triple crest indicates the Athenian commander Lamachus. 
Feithetaerus is a compound of Alkibiades and Gorgias. 
Euelpides is both one of the 'hopeful' Athenians (see 
Thuk. VI. 24), and at the same time Polus of Agrigentum, 
the 'famulus' of Gorgias. This marvellous theory was 
supported by such an ingenious array of learned argu- 
ment, that on its first publication it gained much assent: 
and the Essay may still be read with profit, even by 
those who do not accept its conclusions. But, as scholar 
after scholar assailed it with powerful reasoning, and 
exposed its inherent improbabilities, it lost credit ; and 
at the present time it will hardly find a single champion 
left. Can it, indeed, be reasonably supposed that Aris- 
tophanes, who in B.C. 425 had written an allegorical 
play {The Knights), quite transparent in its general 

' i 



INTR OD UCTIOJV. xxxv 

meaning and in its details, would produce, ten years after- 
wards, another allegory, not less elaborate, and yet so 
dark and doubtful, that no spectator could see through it 
at the time, no commentator interpret it subsequently, 
till at length, after the lapse of 2240 years, a German 
scholar was found capable of reading the riddle with the 
minutest accuracy ? No ! an allegorizing comic poet 
could never have intended to be so obscure a Sphinx, 
and to look so far into the future for an Oedipus. 

§26. Another school of criticism consists of those 
German writers, who find in The Birds a philosophical 
or, at least, a philosophizing allegory. The foremost 
representative of this school is Rotscher (1827), whose 
work, already cited, is designed to prove that this comedy 
describes, as shewn in the Athenian commonwealth, the 
victory of subjective opinion over objective and uni- 
versal truth, of headstrong self-will over the restraints of 
law and order. This outline is filled in with much 
minute detail of the parts taken by the several charac- 
ters and by the chorus. A similar view is that of Kerst 
[die V'dgel 1847), who extends the purpose of the poet 
from the narrow field of Athens to the sphere of human 
government and general law ; while he contends at the 
same time that an under-current of political design runs 
through the play. Wieck {Ueber die V'dgel 1852) finds 
in it the antithesis of tragic heroism, a comic concep- 
tion of plebeian heroism, trampling down with irresisti- 
ble force all law, all religion, all ideality. This notion 
may have been suggested to Wieck by the outbreak 
of Parisian communism in 1848. According to Bohtz, 
Aristophanes, tired of exposing individual follies, lets 

C2 



xxx vi INTR OD UCTION. 

the Athenians see, in one allegoric picture, the effect of 

living in a state composed of fools and maniacs. Cloud- 

cuckooborough thus becomes a sort of poetic Bedlam. 

To this list of scholars must be added the more eminent 

name of Bernhardy, who, in his Gr. Lit. II. 989, seems 

to fluctuate between two views, one exhibiting in The 

Birds * an ochlocratic commonwealth/ the other, a mere 

poetic phantasy. It were waste of time to scrutinize 

more minutely theories of this nature, which represent 

Teutonic rather than Hellenic thought, the mind of 

Hegel more than that of Aristophanes. 

§ 27. K. O. Muller {Gr. Lit. Ch. xxviii.) says : 

" The whole piece is a satire on Athenian frivolity and credulity 
on that building of castles in the air, and that dreaming expecta- 
tion of a life of luxury and ease, to which the Athenian people gave 
themselves up in the mass ; but the satire is so general, there is 
so little of anger and bitterness, so much of fantastic humour in 
it, that no comedy could make a more agreeable and harmless 
impression." 

According to this view, the Bird-city does not re- 
present either Athens or Syracuse, and Peithetaerus 
does not represent Alkibiades. The play conveys in- 
deed to the Athenians warning and instruction, but of 
a general kind, without special advice adapted to the 
political situation of the time. 

§ 28. Against this description of The Birds, as 
■ a castle in the dr/ Dr Kochly, Rector of the Univer- 
sity of Zurich, strongly contends in his Gratulations- 
schrift to Boeckh {iiber die Vogel des Ar. 1857). His 
main argument is: that, considering the analogy of his 
other plays, especially of The Achamians, The Knights 
The Wasps, The Peace, The Lysistrata, and The Frogs 



INTRODUCTION. xxxvii 

Aristophanes must be understood to sympathize with 
those who are victorious at the end ; and, in The Birds, 
these are Peithetaerus and the Bird-commonwealth. 
After a skilful analysis of the plot, after describing the 
miserable condition of Athens at the time, distracted by 
the bitter strife between democrats and oligarchs, in- 
fidels and bigots, Kochly says that Aristophanes had 
now renounced the method used in his earlier works, of 
representing these opposite tendencies in concrete em- 
bodiments ; that he had abandoned his youthful dream 
of recurring to an ' Old-Athens/ and was now disposed 
to recommend the transition to a ' New- Athens/ the 
type of which he places in the free realm of air, among 
its denizens, the genial Birds. From this ' New- Athens ' 
degenerate evils of every kind, political and religious, 
must be removed; religion must be preserved, but in 
subordination to the State ; democracy must be main- 
tained, but a Periklean democracy, under a supreme 
leader. Nor does he shrink from supposing that the 
leader so recommended is Alkibiades, though then 
placed under capital accusation, if not already known 
to be a fugitive and a proscribed exile. In support of 
this opinion Kochly appeals to the favour a second 
time shewn to the same Alkibiades, during his later 
exile, in 77^^^, where, when Euripides and Aeschylus 
are desired by Dionysus to give their opinions about 
the banished leader, the reply of Aeschylus, who repre- 
sents the mind of Aristophanes, is this : 

" Rear not within the state a lion's cub : 
But, being reared, submit ye to his ways." 

§ 29. Dr Kochly found a courteous opponent in 



xxxviii INTROD UCTION. 



his friend and colleague, Professor Vogelin, who, in a 
letter addressed to him in 1858, advocates an opinion, 
that the scope of The Birds is poetical only, not 
political in any special manner. He leans therefore 
to the view originally taken by Aug. W. Schlegel in his 
Lectures on Dramatic Literature, and virtually adopted 
by Droysen, by the brothers Karl and Theodor Kock, 
and other scholars. According to this view the comedy 
is in its conception a fantastic dream, a Lustspiel, or 
(to borrow the title of Mr Courthope's genial work) 
a Paradise of Birds. The Muse of Aristophanes flies 
from an old city full of trouble and discomfort to a new 
colony of ease and enjoyment; and the sentiment is 
very much that of Schiller's secular ode, — 

" Freiheit ist nur in dem Reich dcr Traiimc, 
Und das Schone bluht nur im Gesang." 

§ 30. Another and not insignificant shade of opinion 
remains to be noticed. In the judgment of some scho- 
lars the religion of the Athenians and of Hellas gene- 
rally is the central subject of The Birds. Binaut's idea, 
that the abolition of the old faith and the reception of 
new formulas is suggested by Aristophanes, may indeed 
be set aside as extravagant and untenable. Seeger 
regards the piece as a humorous criticism of the Hel- 
lenic national religion. This description is open to the 
charge of one-sidedness ; but perhaps it draws attention 
to a really important feature of the poet's design in 
composing this play. See § 46-8. 

§ 31. In order to mediate, if possible, between 
these various and conflicting views, it will be convenient, 
at this point, to sketch briefly the political state of 



INTROD UCTION. xxxix 

Athens at the moment when The Birds was acted : and 
then to consider the plot and management of the drama 
itself, with special notice of those passages which indi- 
cate any feelings of the poet respecting the characters, 
events and controversies of the time. 

§ 32. When the Sicilian expedition was voted 
415, there were in Athens three political parties. 
The democratic majority, partisans of progress and of 
war, who had formerly supported Kleon, were now 
led by the daring, able, and unprincipled Alkibiades, 
who, born of high family and possessing great wealth, 
flattered the popular ambition to serve his own, and 
sought personal aggrandizement in the aggrandizement 
of his country. A smaller but not inconsiderable body 
of citizens, moderate in political feeling, were generally 
guided by the advice of Nikias, whose pacific and con- 
servative character was liable to the dangerous faults of 
indolence and superstition. Behind these parties lay in 
the shade a third, the oligarchic faction, not large in 
numbers, and afraid to avow itself, but formidable from 
its organization, which was conducted by secret socie- 
ties or clubs, called Hetaeries (hetaireiai). The mem- 
bers of these societies were bound by oath to support 
each other mutually in lawsuits and candidature for 
office, and to propagate their common political objects 
at the risk of property and life. The partisans of 
Nikias disliked the character and dreaded the policy of 
Alkibiades: the oligarchic clubbists went farther still; 
they hated him personally, as the French aristocrats in 
1789 hated Lafayette, considering him a deserter from 
his order, and one who fostered democratic influence as 



xl INTRODUCTION. 



the basis of a virtual tyranny for himself. Among the 
leaders of these Hetaeries in 415 were, Andokides, son 
of Leogoras, a young and wealthy Eupatrid, Peisander 
(Peisandrus) of Acharnae, a cowardly intriguer, who 
afterwards became a traitor, Charikles, in later years 
one of the Thirty, and the orator Antiphon, son of 
the sophist Sophilus. Of these, Antiphon alone had 
been hitherto bold enough to oppose Alkibiades in 
public. Nor was it in these political parties only that 
Alkibiades had enemies at work against him. Many 
of the small fry in the Ekklesia, Kleonymus, Andro- 
kles, and others, envied his popularity, and resented 
the stings of his scornful eloquence. The priests, with 
Lampon and Diopeithes at their head, abhorred the 
freethinker, whose mockeries of religion impaired their 
influence, and might tend to diminish their profits. 
The comic stage was enlisted in the same cause. Eu- 
polis probably exhibited at the Dionysia of the city, in 
March 415, his comedy called The Baptae, in which the 
licentious revels and nocturnal profanities of Alkibiades 
and his boon companions were held up to public indig- 
nation. This attack is said to have irritated Alkibiades, 
but it did not avail to shake his influence. 

§ 33. The expedition to Sicily had been voted 
(§ 20), and the preparation of the armament was pro- 
ceeding. The opponents of the scheme had called in 
the aid of superstition to prevent its execution, but 
without success. Deterring oracles had been reported 
from the shrine of Amnion. Ravens had stolen the 
fruit from the golden palm-tree at Delphi. The women 
celebrating the festival of Adonis were said to have 



INTR OD UCTION. xli 



heard sounds of lamentation issuing from the rafters. 
Sokrates, it was rumoured, had been warned by his 
daemon of impending failure. The mathematician 
Meton had set his house on fire, either to escape service 
himself as a lunatic, or to detain his son at home. All 
in vain. The popular will was paramount : and the 
armada continued its preparation, when a fact occurred 
which startled Athens, and led to the most momentous 
consequences. This was the mutilation of the Hermae, 
justly called by Mr Grote 'one of the most extraor- 
dinary events in all Grecian history.' These Hermae, or 
half-statues of the god Hermes, are described by the 
same historian as 'blocks of marble about the size of 
the human figure.' He goes on to say of them : 

" The upper part was cut into a head, face, neck, and bust ; the 
lower part was left as a quadrangular pillar, broad at the base, 
without arms, body, or legs. They were distributed in great num- 
bers throughout Athens, and always in the most conspicuous situa- 
tions ; standing beside the outer doors of private houses as well as 
of temples — near the most frequented porticoes — at the intersec- 
tion of cross-ways— in the public agora. They were thus present 
to the eyes of every Athenian in all his acts of intercommunion, 
either for business or pleasure, w r ith his fellow-citizens. The reli- 
gious feeling of the Greeks considered the god to be planted or 
domiciliated where his statue stood, so that the companionship, 
sympathy, and guardianship of Hermes became associated with 
most of the manifestations of conjunct life at Athens, political, 
social, commercial, or gymnastic. Moreover, the quadrangular 
fashion of these statues, employed occasionally for other gods 
besides Hermes, was a most ancient relic handed down from the 
primitive rudeness of Pelasgian workmanship ; and was popular in 
Arcadia, as well as peculiarly frequent in Athens." 

On the morning of the nth of May, B.C. 415, all these 
Hermae were found to have been mutilated by unknown 



xlii INTRODUCTION. 



hands. The characteristic features of each had been 
destroyed, and nothing left but a rude mass of stone. 
One Hermes only had been spared, if the account given 
by Andokides may be trusted ; and that stood near the 
house of his father Leogoras. 

§ 34. The effect produced by so daring a sacrilege 
on the population of what Sophokles (Oed. Col. 260) 
calls the most god-revering of cities, could not fail to 
be tremendous : and it is ably depicted as such by 
Grote, in the passage which follows the last citation. 
Horror, alarm, confusion, suspicion were widely felt, 
and everywhere displayed ; for those who were in the 
secret counterfeited these emotions, and strove to propa- 
gate them. Historians are agreed, for the most part, 
that the crime was conceived and executed with a view 
to depopularize and destroy Alkibiades : and the secrecy 
of its execution points to the oligarchic hetaeries as the 
contrivers and agents. Their plan was to fanaticize the 
popular mind by this sacrilege, and, when inquisition 
was made, to extend the inquiry to all offences against 
religion, by which means they could not fail to inculpate 
Alkibiades. In this course they might calculate w r ith 
full assurance on the aid of the priests, headed by the 
same Diopeithes who, seventeen years before, under the 
administration of Perikles, had inspired and conducted 
the measures against the philosopher Anaxagoras, which 
compelled him to fly from Athens. Unsuccessful in 
their former efforts, the clubbists were resolved, by one 
grand coup : to succeed now. And succeed they did in 
their main object, the ruin of their hated rival; but 
with him they ruined the Sicilian enterprise, they ruined 



INTROD UCTION. xliii 



their country, and in the long run, by a righteous retri- 
bution, they ruined themselves and their party. 

§ 35. The Council of 500 met, and summoned a 
special Ekklesia, which voted a Commission of Inquiry. 
Among the chief inquisitors were Peisander and Chari- 
kles, who were not improbably in the secret of the plot. 
A reward of 10,000 drachmas (nearly ^400) was offered 
for information : but none as yet came in. A further 
reward of 1 000 drachmas was then proposed, on the 
motion of Kleonymus, for all information respecting 
acts committed in violation of religious worship. Still 
several weeks passed without any denunciation. At 
length, on the very day when the strategi (Nikias, La- 
machus and Alkibiades) were to report the completion 
of the armament, and receive their final orders from 
the people, one Pythonikus, an agent of the conspirators, 
mounted the bcma, and warned the citizens of the 
danger incurred by sending as commander of the fleet 
a violator of the highest religious sanctities. Alkibiades, 
he said, had profaned religion by a mock celebration of 
the Eleusinian mysteries in the house of Polytion, and in 
the company of other profligate young men. A slave 
Andromachus was brought forward to establish this 
charge by his evidence : and Pythonikus went on to 
denounce Alkibiades as implicated in the mutilation 
of the Hermae; a gross and manifest calumny. Whether 
for this reason or for others, the accusation did not 
gain credence. Androkles renewed and extended the 
charges in another Assembly, but the resolute denial 
of Alkibiades was received with applause. Hereupon 
the conspirators, affecting moderation, proposed to with- 



xliv INTROD UCTION. 



draw them for the time, and to defer the inquiry con- 
cerning the mysteries till the return of Alkibiades. 
Against this course he himself protested strongly, de- 
manding an immediate trial, a full acquittal or a capital 
condemnation. His friends do not seem to have dis- 
cerned as clearly as he did ^the wisdom of insisting on 
this demand. He was not adequately supported ; and 
his enemies so far succeeded as to send him to Sicily 
without a previous trial and acquittal. This was in 

July, 415. 

§ 36. After the departure of the fleet, the inquisi- 
tion was continued on all the matters of charge. And 
now information poured in : first from one Teukrus, a 
resident alien (metoikos) ; then from a woman named 
Agariste, and from Lydus a slave. These inculpated 
numerous persons, of whom many "fled, others were 
imprisoned. Afterwards one Diokleides appeared with 
a tale of 300 conspirators, of whom he said he had 
seen 42 assembled in the street on the night of the 
mutilation of the Hermae, and had been enabled by the 
moonlight to discern their faces. He specified two 
senators, with many more persons, among whom were 
Andokides and his father Leogoras, w 7 ith several of their 
kinsmen. The senators, threatened with torture, fled, 
the rest were thrown into prison. And now Andokides, 
to save his father and kinsfolk (as he alleges in his 
speech 'on the Mysteries' many years later) was induced, 
after promise of indemnity, to make a confession, im- 
plicating among the Hermokopidae one Euphiletus, and 
many others, as principals, and himself as a tacit accom- 
plice, who had not taken part in the act, being confined 



INTR OB UCTION. xl v 

to the house by an accident : for proof of which he 
referred to the unmutilated state of the Hermes adjoin- 
ing his father's house. The prisoners accused by An- 
dokides were executed. Those who had fled were 
condemned in their absence and became disfranchised 
(atimoi). This confession led to a re-examination of 
the tale of Diokleides, which was now disproved ; and 
he, admitting his falsehood, was put to death. To what 
extent Andokides spoke the truth, was never known 1 . 
We may guess that what he did tell was not far from 
fact, but that he could have told much more, if he had 
chosen. All but four of those whom he inculpated 
had been denounced already by Teukrus, among them 
Euphiletus. The four scapegoats were perhaps sacrificed 
to give a colour of truth to his narrative : but we have 
no clue to shew the reason why they were selected. 
As they escaped and became exiles, it is probable they 
had warning beforehand. These events are narrated by 
Mr Grote with more fulness of detail than our present 
purpose needs. 

1 The whole tenour of this affair leads to the conjecture, that the 
slaves and Agariste were witnesses prepared by the Hetaeries in their own 
interest against Alkibiades, but that Teukrus and Diokleides were un- 
looked for and unwelcome interlopers, whose appearance had the effect 
of "hoisting the oligarchic engineers with their own petard." Teukrus, 
who had retired to Megara, and did not return and testify till he got a 
promise of safety, was probably an agent betraying his employers for the 
sake of gain, and care was taken that his share of gain should be a very 
small one. Diokleides, there is no room to doubt, was a needy speculator 
making a bold stroke for a fortune ; a shrewd man, we may guess, who 
knew his Athens, its families, and parties, pretty well ; who had waited 
and watched, and drawn his conclusions more or less sagaciously, and with 
more or less correctness. He was able to put forward a plausible list of 300 
conspirators, and from these to make a plausible selection of the 42, whom 



xlvi INTRODUCTION. 



§ 37. The charges of impiety were renewed against 
Alkibiades in his absence. And so many acts of this 
kind were now imputed, that his enemies found it an 
easy matter to obtain a decree of accusation against 
him, and of recall to answer the charge in person. His 
impeachment (eisangelia) before the Council of 500 was 
moved by Thessalus son of Kimon, one of the oligarchic 
party, and seconded by the democratic orator Andro- 
kles. The motion being accepted, the state-galley 
Salaminia was despatched to summon him home : the 
trierarch being ordered not to seize his person, but to 
allow him to sail to Athens in his own galley. The 
Salaminia found the Athenian fleet at Katana, in Sicily. 
Alkibiades obeyed the summons, but on the homeward 
voyage he escaped from Thurii in Italy, and afterwards, 
being received at Sparta, he traitorously betrayed the 
plans of Athens, and advised the Lakedaemonians to 
assist the Syracusans, invade Attica and fortify Dekeleia. 
These counsels were adopted with success. 

§ 38. On the return of the Salaminia to Athens 
without Alkibiades, he was condemned to death as 
a traitor par contumace, his property was confiscated, 
and a solemn curse was pronounced upon him by the 

he had seen, as he said, by moonlight during the momentous night. The 
unmutilated Hermes would, for one thing, signalize to him the young 
Andokides, about whom he would naturally enquire and gather more. 
And, having fixed on this young man, he thought it a safe course to 
include his father Leogoras and many of his kindred. But here the in- 
former too 'hoisted' himself. He drove to confession a real conspirator, 
whose tale, founded on a knowledge of facts, soon destroyed the guess-work 
fabric of Diokleides, and consigned to the executioner a perjured villain, 
who a short while before had been crowned amidst popular applause, 
escorted to the Prytaneum, and feasted there. 



INTR OD UCTION. xl 



vn 



priests. E. Curtius describes in the following passage 
of his History (Prof. Ward's Translation, III. 341) the 
miserable state of Athenian society resulting from the 
affair of the Hermokopidae and the intrigues which 
followed it. 

' ; This was the first victory achieved by party intrigues at Athens 
over the state and its interests ; the end of a struggle which had 
for months agitated the community, and brought into play all the 
decomposing elements existing in it : hatred and passion, impudent 
audacity and hypocrisy, superstitious terror and frivolous insolence. 
It was a victory of the revolution over law and usage ; and there- 
fore society had not only most heavily suffered under it externally 
in the shape of banishments, confiscations, and capital sentences, 
but had also been affected in its innermost life by the consequences 
resulting from this victory; the sense of right and wrong was 
blunted, and the voice of morality drowned. Day after day the 
citizens had seen the most sacred ties disregarded, accused persons 
sacrificing those who had become their bail, and witnesses un- 
blushingly uttering false testimony. Things had come to such a 
pass, that a Dioclides was crowned with the wealth bestowed upon 
public benefactors, and conducted in the chariot of honour to ban- 
quet in the Prytaneum ; although, even before he was unmasked, 
he had shown himself to be a man who let it depend entirely on 
the question of pecuniary profit, whether he should speak or remain 
silent. The sur-excited minds of the populace were no longer to 
be satisfied with ordinary trials ; in feverish excitement they fol- 
lowed the windings of a criminal justice working in the dark, in 
favour of which they became accustomed to sacrifice the enjoyment 
of the most important of civic rights. Accusation and condemna- 
tion seemed to be identical. Accordingly, by far the greater num- 
ber of trials dealt with absent persons. The patrimony of ancient 
families was sold into strange hands ; while the large number of 
fugitives could not but serve to disclose, to the enemies lying in 
wait outside, the actual condition of Attic society. Subsequently, 
indeed, most of the exiles were reinstated in their property, but 
the ancient evils continued to exercise their effects ; a general feel- 
ing of mistrust and insecurity remained ; and public confidence 
was permanently weakened by the fact, that, notwithstanding all 



xlviii INTROD UCTION. 



the enquiries instituted, the mutilation of the Hermae remained for 
all time an unsolved enigma to the Athenians." 

§ 39. Such, then, was the sad condition of things 
at Athens, when Aristophanes produced The Birds, and 
his rivals their several plays, at the Dionysia of the city 
in March 414. We must suppose The Birds to have been 
finished as a literary work at least two months earlier, 
for the theatrical preparations and the teaching of the 
chorus and actors would require some such interval. 
As we do not know when the Salaminia reached the 
Peiraeus on its return, it is impossible to say whether 
Aristophanes was acquainted with the escape of Alki- 
biades at the time he finished his work : but there is no 
reason to suppose that the news of his treason at Sparta 
had arrived. 

§ 40. Curtius assumes (p. 343) that the comedies 
which then competed were restrained in their compo- 
sition by a law said to have emanated from the verbose 
demagogue Syrakosius, forbidding personal ridicule. 
This rests upon the authority of a Scholiast on Av. 
1297, who cites a passage from The Monotropus of 
Phrynichus, inveighing against Syrakosius for taking 
from him the power of ridiculing whom he chose. It 
seems impossible to believe that at this era such a law 
had been carried at all, or that, if carried for a time, it 
was not now repealed ; for, had it really been in force, 
how was Aristophanes able to introduce by name Sy- 
rakosius himself as having the nickname Magpie, or 
Peisander as a spiritless dastard, besides many other 
living characters? and how could he bring Meton on 
the stage in person ? 



INTRODUCTION. xl 



IX 



§ 41. Let us now take a rapid survey of the plot 
of The Birds, noting more especially those points which 
may help us to estimate the poet's purpose in writing it. 

The scene is a rocky wilderness, on which enter two 
Athenians, with slaves and baggage. One of these is 
Peithetaerus (Winfriend), an inventive genius, the other, 
Euelpides (Hopeful), a chattering jocular cit, with some- 
thing in him of Sancho Panza, and a spice of Mark 
Tapley. Peithetaerus carries a crow in his left hand, 
Euelpides a jackdaw or jay ; prophetic birds, which act 
as guides to the two travellers, who, sick of litigation, 
worry, and expense, are migrating from Athens in search 
of a less troublesome abode. Such a city they hope to 
find by the aid of the Hoopoe, formerly Tereus, allied 
by marriage to Pandion, a mythic king of Athens. With 
the help of their birds, they reach his residence, and 
obtain an interview. ' Of what country are you ?' says 
the Hoopoe. ' Whence the gallant triremes' replies Euel- 
pides. * A re yon Heliasts f ' — ' No ! Heliast-haters : we 
seek a snug city! — ' A greater than Athens ?' — ' No, but a 
more comfortable one! — ' You want an aristocracy.' — 'Not 
at all: / abhor Aristokrates! — 'Well/ says the Hoopoe, 'I 
know such a city on the Red Sea.' — t No sea-side place 
for us, where the Salaminia may come and arrest us. But 
we should like to hear about the bird-life, what sort of 
thing it is.' — ' Pleasant enough.' And now Peithetaerus, 
who has been wrapt in silent meditation, breaks in with 
the announcement of a plan for aggrandizing the Birds, 
by building a city between earth and heaven, which shall 
intercept the savour of sacrifices, and wear the gods to 
death with Melian famine \ compelling them to pay 

d 



1 INTR OD UCTION. 



tribute, and surrender their dominion to the Birds. The 
Hoopoe, charmed with the idea, agrees to summon the 
Birds to a conference, in which Peithetaerus shall ex- 
pound his scheme. His nightingale-wife Prokne is called 
out of the brake, and the two sing their pibroch of 
summons to the Birdtribe. It is answered first by the 
appearance of four peculiar birds (see v. 285), and then 
by the 24 who enter the orchestra and form the Chorus 
of the play (v. 312 — 322). Horrified at the sight of 
men, their natural enemies, their first impulse is to 
destroy the two Athenians, who, armed with their cooking 
utensils, stand on the defensive. At last the Hoopoe 
succeeds in cooling their wrath ; and they consent to 
hear the exposition of Peithetaerus. He, by a series of 
comic instances, and by dint of a comic logic, proves to 
their satisfaction that Birds were the deities originally 
worshipped by mankind. 'And how are we to recover 
our lost dominion?' they ask in the eagerness of excited 
ambition. Peithetaerus develops his plan of a new 
Bird-city ; and removes one by one the difficulties sug- 
gested. His views are accepted with enthusiasm ; a 
vote of confidence is passed, the Birds intreating Peithe- 
taerus to march along with them against the gods with 
just, sincere, religious heart. The Hoopoe introduces the 
Nightingale to his guests, enters with them into his 
dwelling, and does not again appear, the conduct of the 
Bird-nation being now left to Peithetaerus. The Chorus 
chant the Parabasis, which, after a cosmogony, shewing 
the Birds to be more ancient than the Gods, offers, in the 
epirrhema, impunity for crime as a temptation to settle in 
Birdland, and, in the antepirrhema, recounts various 



INTRODUCTION. li 

advantages gained by the possession of wings. The 
two Athenians, changed into birds by eating a magic 
root, rejoin the Chorus, and, after mutual banter, 
adopt for the new city the' title of Cloudcuckooborough 
(Nephelokokkygia). Euelpides is then despatched to 
overlook the builders, and does not reappear. Peithe- 
taerus fetches a priest to pray and perform sacrifice, 
while the Birds chant a Chorikon. The priest recites a 
litany, in which Birdnames are mingled in ridiculous 
confusion with those of the ancient deities. After which, 
because he had brought a lean goat for sacrifice, he is dis- 
missed with contumely. Emigrants from the old world 
apply for admission to the new city ; a begging poet, a 
cheating soothsayer, the geometer Meton, an official in- 
spector, and a vendor of plebiscites or decrees. The poet 
gets a dole of clothing ; the rest are packed off with insults 
and stripes. The Chorus then sing a second imperfect 
Parabasis ; in the epirrhema of which a reward is offered 
to any one who shall kill the atheist Diagoras of Melos, 
or any of the dead tyrants. Tidings come to Peithetaerus 
of the completion of the new city, which is ludicrously 
described. Iris, the messenger of the gods, who had 
been despatched to require from men the usual sacrifices, 
is now intercepted by the Bird-scouts and brought be- 
fore Peithetaerus, who sends her back to heaven with 
scoffs and threats. A herald from earth relates the 
enthusiasm which is inspired at Athens by the found- 
ation of the Bird-city. Crowds, he says, are on their 
way to demand wings. Peithetaerus, with his slaves, 
prepares a supply of these. The first candidate is 
a young man who wants to get rid of his father. 

d 2 



Hi INTR OD UCTION. 



Peithetaerus dissuades him from this purpose, supplies 
him with wings, a spur and a crest, and sends him to 
fight his country's battles in Thrace. The dithyrambic 
poet Kinesias wants wings for his cloudy excursions. 
Pie only gets a whipping. A professed informer appears, 
who desires wings to fly to and from the islands in 
pursuit of his dishonest business. He is still more 
severely scourged and dismissed. A Stasimon follows, 
shewing up the poltroon Kleonymus and the cloak- 
robber Orestes. Then enters Prometheus as a deserter 
from heaven, hidden tinder a sunshade or umbrella. He 
tells Peithetaerus that the gods are reduced to starvation, 
and are sending an embassy to treat for peace. He 
advises that the only terms accepted be, that the sceptre 
shall be restored to the Birds, and Royalty, the all-powerful 
handmaid of Zeus, be given to Peithetaerus in marriage. 
The next Stasimon sketches Sokrates the spirit-raiser, 
Peisander his spiritless visitor, and Chaerephon his 
strong-spirited famulus. Then appear the three divine 
ambassadors, Poseidon the courtier, Herakles the glut- 
ton, and Triballus the barbarian. Peithetaerus, who 
is cooking a repast, of which the chief dish consists 
of birds pitt to death for insurrection against the demo- 
cratic birds, gains the support of Herakles by the savour 
of dainties, and other tempting promises. Herakles wins 
over Triballus, and, Poseidon being thus outvoted, 
the demands of Peithetaerus are conceded. He proceeds 
to heaven with the three ambassadors to receive his 
bride. The following Stasimon lampoons the Sophists, 
especially Gorgias and Philippus, as ventriloquists, that 
is, men who fill their bellies by the use of their tongues. 



INTR OD UCTION, liii 

A messenger announces the approach of the bridal pair. 
Peithetaerus, who wields the thunderbolts of Zeus, descends 
with Royalty from a chariot amidst the acclamations 
of the Birds ; the nuptial procession is formed, and 
marches forth to the sound of exulting music. 

§ 42. After considering this outline of the plot, 
a few questions may be usefully asked and answered. 
(1) Was it the purpose of Aristophanes, by the Birds to 
represent the Athenians, and by the foundation of Cloud- 
cuckooborough the Sicilian expedition ? To answer 
in the affirmative would be nearly the same thing as 
to accept Siivern's allegorical theory, which has been 
already dismissed. The whole tenour of the play shews 
that the Birds are distinct from the Athenians, and 
rather placed in contrast with them than as represen- 
tative of them. The two emigrants have quitted Athens 
as an uncomfortable residence. After rejecting several 
abodes suggested to them by the Hoopoe, they find that 
Bird-life itself is not unpleasant (v. 164 &c), and Peithe- 
taerus develops a plan for improving the condition of 
the Birds. This leads to various applications from 
Athenians (each of w T hom typifies some class disliked 
by Aristophanes), first, to be admitted as colonists (vv. 
958 — 1126); next, to obtain wings (vv. 1419 — 1557). 
All these are disapproved, and sent back to Athens. 
Thus the distinction between the two localities and their 
several inhabitants is studiously maintained. And this 
general fact is in no degree weakened by the circum- 
stance, that analogies are often exhibited between 
Athens and Birdland, Athenians and Birds. All this 
belongs to the humour of the piece, and to that form 



li v INTR OD UCTION. 



of joking by surprise, which is so large an ingredient in 
comic wit. See vv. 319. 367. 793— 8o8 - 875—880. 910. 
932. 1492. 1543 — 47, &c The Athenian audience were 
thus indulged with frequent opportunities of laughing at 
their own expense ; a pleasure, no doubt, as heartily- 
enjoyed by them, as it would be by an English audience 
now. 

§ 43. If the Birds are not types of the Athenians, 
we may dismiss with a simple negative the further 
inquiry, whether the Bird-city and its foundation re- 
present the Sicilian enterprise. (2) But other questions 
which may be raised are these : did Aristophanes in 
the character of Peithetaerus intend to shadow forth 
Alkibiades ? and further, did he mean to recommend 
(as Kochly thinks), that the sole leadership, either of 
the state or of the military force, should be entrusted to 
Alkibiades ? It cannot be denied, that between the 
character of Peithetaerus and that of Alkibiades there 
are some striking analogies. Both are dissolute : both 
contemners of the popular religion : both eloquent 
reasoners : both persuaders of men : both are ambitious, 
bold and able schemers. It were hazardous, therefore, 
to say with positive assurance, that the image of Al- 
kibiades was not present to the poet's mind, when he 
drew the character of Peithetaerus. But it may fairly 
be stated as improbable, that he designed to imperso7tdte 
Alkibiades in that character, and to place him distinctly 
before the public eye as, in The Knights, he had placed 
Kleon, Nikias, Demosthenes, and the Demus of Athens 
itself. It may perhaps be said, with all but absolute 
assurance, that he had not this purpose; for no repre- 



INTR OD UCTION. 1 V 

sentation of a similar kind appears in any other of his 
works. And did Aristophanes mean to recommend 
Alkibiades as leader of the state or as sole i strategus ' ? 
Such a recommendation Kochly infers, partly from the 
final success of Peithetaerus, and from his obtaining 
' Royalty/ l the sceptre/ and ' the thunder of Zeus ' : 
partly from the passage (vv. 658 — 669), where the Birds 
say to Peithetaerus : 

" Your guidance will I nevermore forsake unto the end." 

******* 

"All the work, where strength is needed, be to us assigned, 
While to you shall be committed all requiring mind." 

He might have added to his evidence the Hoopoe's 
words, which next follow (v. 670 — 1) : 

" Now, let me tell you, there's no further time 
To nod and shilly-shally, Nikias-like ; 
But something must be done forthwith." 

It is difficult to meet Kochly's inference with a 
decided negative. Can it be said with certainty, that, 
when Aristophanes composed The Birds, the advantage 
in government or in war of single direction by a power- 
ful mind did not enter into his thoughts ? He may 
have written with this feeling ; and again the image of 
the ablest Athenian may have floated before him, in 
contrast with the indecisive caution of Nikias and the 
brainless valour of Lamachus. But we may say, with 
not less absolute assurance than before : when the play 
was acted, Aristophanes could not wish the Athenian 
public to suppose that he meant to recommend a con- 
demned exile as leader of the state or as head of the 
army. 



lvi INTRODUCTION. 



§ 44. Are we then to fall back upon the mere 
Lustspiel theory ? Are we to be content with saying, 
in the words of A. W. Schlegel : "The Comedy of 
The Birds sparkles with the boldest and richest ima- 
gination in the province of the fantastically marvellous ; 
it is a merry buoyant creation, bright with the gayest 
plumage: it is a piece of the most harmless buf- 
foonery, which has a touch at everything, gods as well 
as men, but without anywhere pressing towards any 
particular object" ? Or are we to agree with Mr Symonds 
when he argues [Greek Poets, p. 260) that Aristophanes 
ridicules idle ambition generally, and the Sicilian enter- 
prise in particular? 

"There is no doubt" (he says) "but that Aristophanes intended 
in The Birds to ridicule the ambition of the Athenians and their 
inveterate gullibility. Peithetaerus and Euelpides represent in 
comic caricature the projectors, agitators, schemers, flatterers, who, 
led by Alcibiades, had imposed upon the excitable vanity of the 
nation. Cloudcuckootown is any castle in the air, or South Sea 
Bubble, which might take the fancy of the Athenian mob. But 
it is also more especially the project of western dominion con- 
nected with their scheme of Sicilian conquest. Aristophanes has 
treated his theme so poetically and largely that the interest of The 
Birds is not, like that of The Wasps or The Kitights, almost 
wholly confined to the Athens of his day. It transcends those 
limitations of place and time, and is the everlasting allegory of foolish 
schemes and flimsy ambition. A modern dramatist — Ben Jonson 
or Moliere for instance, perhaps even Shakspere — could hardly 
have refrained from ending the allegory with some piece of poetical 
justice. We should have seen Peithetaerus disgraced and Cloud- 
cuckootown resolved into 'such stuff as dreams are made of.' 
But this is not the art of Aristophanes. He brings Peithetaerus to 
a successful catastrophe, and ends his Comedy with marriage 
gs of triumph. Yet none the less pointed is the satire. The 
unreality of the vision is carefully maintained, and Peithetaerus- 



INTRODUCTION. lvii 

walking home with Basileia for his bride, like some new sun- 
eclipsing star, seems to wink and strut and shrug his shoulders, 
conscious of the Titanic sham." 

45. Neither of these views represents our concep- 
tion of The Birds. We cannot think, with Schlegel, that 
this play — that any play of Aristophanes — is so mere a 
sport of the poetic fancy, so totally devoid of ulterior and 
specific design. Nor can we believe, with Mr Symonds, 
that the poet would, in 414, desire to assail with unsparing 
ridicule an enterprise upon which the Athenian people 
had already risked almost their whole material strength, 
in which they had invested their largest and fondest 
hopes. And how does this idea harmonize with that 
which may be called the keynote of the comedy, the 
reason assigned by the emigrants for leaving Athens 
(vv. 39 — 51), that they want to find a residence free 
from litigation, its troubles, and its unpleasant conse- 
quences ? We think it probable, that the particular 
purpose of The Birds will be most truly and fully seen, 
if in the first place we regard this keynote attentively, 
as interpreted by the political events, feelings, and con- 
ditions of the time ; and if in the next place, running 
our eye through the play, we observe how large a space, 
in it is occupied with comic ridicule of the Hellenic dei- 
ties and their priesthood. 

§ 46. The gloom and terror which then prevailed 
at Athens, with the causes which produced them, have 
been sufficiently described already. The displeasure 
they would excite in the mind of Aristophanes might be 
conjectured from the character and tendencies of the 
man himself, and from many passages in his former 



1 viii INTR OD UCTION. 



plays : but these feelings are but thinly disguised, if dis- 
guised at all, in the comedy of The Birds itself. Besides 
the crucial passage above cited, we find in v. 116, 
vv< !jj4 — ^ vv. 1145 — 6, and in the characters of the 
Plebiscite-vendor, the Informer, Kleonymus, Peisander, 
indication sufficient of the disgust with which our poet 
viewed the suspicion and terrorism which then afflicted 
Athens. But whence came this terrorism, this suspicion ? 
From an insane fanaticism. Aristophanes discerned 
clearly enough the cause of the mischief; and it is 
against this cause, in our opinion, that he contends in 
The Birds : contends, not with an open declaration of 
his polemical purpose, but by using the well-known 
and recognized comic licence of laughing at the gods, 
on whose part so much furious zeal had been roused, 
in whose name so many unjust prosecutions had been 
instituted, so many cruel sentences passed. This, in 
short, we venture to regard as the political character- 
istic of The Birds : it is meant to be an antidote to the 
religions fanaticism which was the bane of Athens at that 
time. If the reader will turn to the following passages 
in the translation, he will find that, out of 1865 lines, at 
least 550 are occupied with ridicule of the gods and 
their priesthood, and with details of their humiliation 
and defeat. See vv. 493. 505. 541—7. 585 — 617. 641 — 
669. 720—778. 870—879. 916—956. 1019 — 1054. 1250 — 
! 347> 1586— 1865. But amidst this general flouting of 
the deities, it may be noticed that one god, and he a 
very vulnerable one, escapes. This is Hermes, the deity 
whom, in The Peace, Aristophanes had signally carica- 
tured. In The Birds, Iris, the feminine messenger of 



INTR OJD UCTION. lix 

heaven, has to bear the brunt of comic persiflage. Is it 
not probable, that the poet shrank from recalling to the 
minds of the audience that god to whose images so 
gross an affront had been lately offered, arousing such a 
storm of popular wrath ? He would not run the risk 
of laughing to scorn a deity whose wrongs were so 
fresh in the public mind. But he could venture to 
relax the clenched teeth and unknit the frowning 
brows of his audience by reminding them, that to banter 
the Olympians generally was a privilege allowed at the 
Dionysiac festivals 1 . 

§ 47. Since allusion has been made to The Peace, 
it is not out of place to say that, as in some respects 
introducing and illustrating The Birds, this comedy 
may be read with interest and advantage. The two 
stand next to each other in the series of Aristophanic 
plays, and, though seven years intervene between them, 
there is no record of any work of our poet composed in 
that interval. It seems highly probable that the general 
idea of the Birds, of Bird-life and a Bird-city, as the 
ground-work of a comedy, had been revolved in the 
mind of Aristophanes for some years before he finally 
executed the design ; and it is just possible that it may 
have grown out of his own language in The Peace, 
where the daughter of Trygaeus says to her father, as, 
mounted on his beetle, he is about to take flight through 

the air, v. 114: 

" O father ! O father ! and is it then true 
That to home and to us you are bidding adieu, 
That you purpose to fly with the birds through the heavens, 
And to rush in your windy career— to the ravens?" 
1 See Appendix C, Note xi. 



lx INTR OD UCTION. 



If this conjecture be near the truth, we may well 
suppose that Aristophanes would defer the constitution 
of his plot, so far as it concerned Athenian events and 
characters, till the time drew near when he meant to 
produce it on the stage. And, when the sad troubles of 
the spring and summer of 415 had embittered and 
afflicted the Athenian mind, he would seek to divert his 
townsmen from their gloom, and to deal, from behind his 
comic shield, a smart slap in the face to Lampon, Dio- 
peithes and the whole confederacy of priests, soothsayers, 
and oligarchs. And this Aristophanes could dare to do, 
because he was a great poet of a people thus described 
by Geppert (Die Altgriechische Buhne, p. 278) : 

"The Greeks denied nothing to their artist. They willingly 
delivered up to him all and everything, to fashion as he chose. 
To the comic poet they surrendered their deities, their political 
institutions, their public and private life, their social relations, 
even their own persons : all they required in return was, that he 
should produce a work worthy of such a god as Dionysus. And 
their poets have used the gift in a way which excites amazement. 
A creative power of humour and wit, which flung aside all fetters, 
has given birth to works of art, such as no time can rival. They 
are caricatures indeed, but in the largest style : they are parodies, 
but of a kind in which the spirit of the age seizes the mask, and 
plays its own comedy. The Demus of Athens, the very Gen us 
of Hellas, is the acting character in these inspired outbursts of 
comic scorn ; nay, it is also the suffering character, for it parodies 
itself. So was it with the Greeks. Yes, there has been a people 
proud enough to obey no laws but those of its own making ; great 
enough to laugh at its own follies : a vigorous, youthful people, 
able to think and feel, as no nation of the earth has since their 
times thought and felt." 



INTROD UCTION. lxi 

§ 48. The 'Skene* of the Greek theatre was a per- 
manent fagade of stone, with two stories, having doors, 
windows, balconies, &c. capable of being modified by 
pictorial hangings so as to suit each particular drama. 
In the first scene of this play, and till near its close, 
the picture exhibited is that of rock and wood, without 
any building ; but the Hoopoe's dwelling (according to 
Schonborn) is in an upper balcony ; and the same scholar 
imagines that the two Athenians, when assailed by the 
Birds, establish their redoubt in another balcony (?). 
Rocks and bushes of painted wood or wickerwork must 
have been also used on the stage, with concealed steps, 
as indicated by the action of the characters in the Pro- 
logos. In tragedy five entrances are usual ; a central 
door in the Skene, with two others, between which it 
stands equidistant ; also a door on each side of the stage. 
Such entrances are to be supposed in this play : but 
Schonborn seems to make no use of the right side en- 
trance, unless he brings the four birds through it. The 
Athenians enter the stage from the left side, which repre- 
sents the way to Hellas ; and all the subsequent human 
characters, except the Priest (whom Aristophanes con- 
siders, according to Schonborn, an ubiquitous sort of 
creature) make their entrance and exit by this route. 
The central door is a rock, which opens for the Runner- 
bird and the Hoopoe. The left-centre leads to the 
nightingale's retreat ; the right-centre is at first used by 
the Hoopoe to call the Birds, but afterwards it be- 
comes the road to and from the new city. The first four 
birds come on the stage, in Schonborn's view (see Ap- 
pendix C. Note III) ; but whether by the right side, or the 



lxii INTR OD UCTION. 



right back entrance, he does not say : perhaps they enter 
by one and retire by the other. Peithetaerus, Hoopoe, 
&c. retire (v. 706) through the central door; and the 
Athenians, after the Parabasis, come out through it 
aeain. Peithetaerus uses it to fetch the Priest, who again 
retires through it. Euelpides goes to the works (v. 896) 
by the right back entrance, through which all the Mes- 
sengers come and go ; but the Herald comes from the 
left side and retires through the centre. Iris appears by 
the aid of machinery on the ledge of a balcony over the 
right back entrance, and is probably carried away on 
the right side again. The stealthy Prometheus, accord- 
ing to Schonborn's probable conjecture, comes in through 
the little-used left back entrance : but no good reason 
is given for bringing in the three divine envoys from the 
left side. The right side is a more probable entrance 
for i:hem. On the supposed change of scene before their 
arrival, see foot-note on v. 1656 (1565). If the scene 
was changed, the 'parapetasma' (curtain) had been 
raised during the operation, and, on its dropping, the 
alcove kitchen was seen in the back centre, and Peithe- 
taerus with slaves within it, when the gods come on. 
At the end of this scene, all retire through this alcove. 
After the- speech of the third Messenger, Peithetaerus 
and Basileia, splendidly apparelled (the former also 
carrying mimic thunderbolts of Zeus), are wafted by a 
machine from the right side, and descend in it slowly 
to the stage, while they are greeted by the songs of the 
chorus and by mute attendants. After returning thanks 
and inviting the chorus to the marriage, the bridal pair 
retire in rhythmical step through the central door, amidst 



INTR OD UCTION. lxiii 



the loud acclaim of the chorus and its musicians. And 
so this comedy concludes. On the machinery by which 
the sights, sounds, and transitions of the Greek drama 
were effected, and on the masks, dresses, and decorations, 
see Theatre of the Greeks, Book III, ch. I. p. 210, &c. 
(Ed. 7.) 

§ 49. The disappearance from the action of the play, 
first of the Hoopoe, at v. 706 (675), afterwards of Euel- 
pides at v. 897 (846), is due to the circumstance that 
three actors only were employed in the dialogue parts 
of a Greek drama, and that the two actors w T ho severally 
represented the Hoopoe and Euelpides were required to 
take other parts. These three actors were called respec- 
tively ' protagonistes,' ' deuteragonistes,' and 'tritago- 
nistes.' In The Birds the DRAMATIS PERSOXAE were 
probably distributed as follows : 

Protagonistes. Deuteragonistes. Tritagonistes. 

Peithetaerus. Euelpides. Runnerbird. 

Poet. Hoopoe. 

Meton. Priest. 

Plebiscite-vendor. Soothsayer. 
Iris. Inspector. 

Kinesias. First Messenger. 

Prometheus. Second Messenger. 

Herakles. Herald. 

Parricide. 

Informer. 

Poseidon. 

Third Messenger. 

Any number of 'mute persons' might be employed, 
as in this play the nightingale and raven (flutists), the 
slaves, cooks, &c. The Triballian god is an exceptional 



lxiv INTR OJD UCTION. 



character. He appears on the stage in the last Episode 
as a fourth or supplementary actor, technically called a 
'parachoregema'. This part might be taken by one of 
the slaves ; and, as there is nothing to speak but a few 
words of barbaric jargon, he is indeed little more than 
a ' mute person/ The ' teacher ' was always bound to 
give the deuteragonist and tritagonist time enough to 
change their apparel in the ' green-room ' of the Athenian 
theatre ; and, if in some instances that time seems scant, 
it must be remembered that a fresh mask was easily 
slipt on, and that in such cases care would be taken to 
make any other change of dress slight. It is,, however, 
certain that great dramatic talent was essential, even in 
a tritagonist, to sustain well such a variety of characters : 
and (in spite of the insulting taunts levelled against 
Aeschines) the term 'third-rate' in modern sense would 
be improperly applied to such an actor. If one of the 
1 choreutae ' spoke as a fourth actor (a resource very 
rarely adopted) this was called a ' paraskenium.' 



ERRATUM. 
Line 83, p. 10, for spoon read pot. 



(For Dramatis Persona, see p. Ixiii.) 



THE BIRDS. 



SCENE : a wild tract, with bush and rock: a tree in 
the distance. Enter PEITHETAERUS and EUELPIDES 
zjit/i slaves. 

Euclpidcs. 
Straight, where the tree stands out — is that the track ? 

[To the jay. 
PcitJictacrus. 
Plague take you ! mine again is croaking back. 



i. Straight, &c. (do you bid me take the straight road where the tree 
is visible?) 2. Plague take you (may you burst). Mine (this crow). 



The Prologos, or introductory scene before the approach of the 
Chorus, extends from v. 1 to v. 220. On the scenery, characters, 
dresses, and divisions of the play, see Introduction. 

The two Athenians, Peithetaerus and Euelpides, followed by 
two slaves (see v. 684), who carry their baggage, come on the stage 
from the (spectators') left-side entrance. Peithetaerus has a crow 
in his left hand, Euelpides a daw or jay. The latter, encouraged, 
as he fancies, by his jay, advances among the rocks. Peithetaerus, 
whose crow makes contrary signs, recalls him by an imprecation, 

I 



THE BIRDS. [Prologos. 



Euelpides. 
Still up and down, old sinner, must we pace? 
Twill kill us both, this vain way-weaving race. 

Peithetaerns. 
That I, poor wretch, believing in a crow, 5 

More than a thousand furlongs round should go! 

Enelpides. 
That I, bad luck ! believing in a jay, 
Should knock my wretched toe-nails all away! 

Peithetaerns. 
'Tis past my knowledge where on earth we stand. 

Enelpides. 
Could you from hence find out the fatherland? 10 

Peithetaerns. 
That not e'en Exekestides could do. 



3. Old sinner (O bad one). 4. 'Twill, &c. (we shall perish, vainly 
weaving our way). 7. Ead luck (the ill-fated). 11. That not, &c. 
(from hence, by Jove, not even Ex. could). 



3. " Old sinner." Terms of jocular abuse express in Attic 
fashion the lively familiarity of friends. 

4. The metaphor in the verb (weaving) likens the erratic move- 
ments of the two Athenians to those of a weaver who passes the weft 
from one side of the loom to the other with constant alternation. 

1 1. Exekestides (see v. 764), Akestor (v. 33), and others are ridi- 
culed as persons who exercise or claim citizenship at Athens without 
legal right. It was easy to cast this slur on account of the strict- 
ness of the rules affecting legitimation. Any foreign taint on the 
mother's side, for instance, would expose a man to be called, in 
comic language, a 'barbarian,' that is, not a genuine Greek. Though 
the land is barbarous, and Exekestides a barbarian, even he, it is 



Prologos.] THE BIRDS. 



Euelpides. 
Woe, woe ! 

Peithetaerits. 

That road, my friend, I leave to you. 

Enclpides. 
A scurvy trick he's played us, he o' the Birdmart, 
Philokrates the poulterer, in his craze : 
He said this pair would find out for us Tereus 15 
The hoopoe, him that once upon a time 

12. That road, &c. (do you indeed, my friend, go that road). 

meant, clever inventer as he is, would not find out his native 
country from this spot 

12. "That road: 5 ' namely, the road of 'woe.' Ancient super- 
stition made it usual to retort an ill-omened saying on the person 
who uttered it (' on your head be it '). 

13. " He o' the Birdmart:" lit. he of the birds. 'The birds' 
express the part of the Athenian Agora where birds were sold : 
so 'the fishes' for 'the fish-mart:' 'the pot-herbs' for 'the herb- 
mart,' ' the ointment ' for ' the perfumers' booths,' &c. 

14. " Poulterer :" lit. boai'd-salesman. Live birds were exposed 
for sale having their feet fastened to a board or wooden dish. 

15. Crows, daws and pyes were vulgarly supposed to have pro- 
phetic skill. 

" Tereus." In the ancient myth Tereus was a Thracian king, 
who married Prokne, elder daughter of Pandion, king of Athens. 
He afterwards by fraud and force got possession of her younger 
sister Philomela. The sisters, plotting vengeance, murdered Itys, 
son of Tereus and Prokne, gave his flesh to be eaten by his father, 
and fled. Tereus pursued : but the gods in pity changed all three 
into birds. The usual legend calls Tereus a hawk, Prokne a swal- 
low, and Philomela a nightingale : but that adopted by Aristo- 
phanes in this play makes Tereus a hoopoe, and Prokne the 
nightingale. Philomela is not mentioned. See Note on v. 107 (100). 

I — 2 



4 THE BIRDS. [Prologos. 



Into a bird was turn'd from out the birds: 

And so he sold this brat of Tharraleides, 

This jay, for twopence, and yon crow for sixpence ; 

But all the creatures knew was— how to peck. 20 

Now what do you gape at ? somewhere down the rocks 

Do you propose to push us ? here's no road. [To the jay. 

PeitJietaems. 
Nor here, I vow ; no vestige of a path. 

Euelpides. 
Your crow says something, doesn't she, of the way ? 

22 21). Do you propose to push us? (will you farther lead us?) 

17 (16). "From out the birds." Cobet and Meineke reject 
this line as spurious : but this is improbable. Koechly proposes an 
emendation, far too bold, giving the sense ' from human form.' It 
may be well explained as it stands. The Greek words are the same 
as those rendered in v. 13, ' of the bird-mart,' and are here 
jocularly repeated in a different sense. We should naturally expect 
the phrase 'from human form :' but Aristophanes supplies one of 
those strokes of humour so familiar to him which are called 'counter 
to expectation:' and says, "from out the birds." The Greeks found 
in barbarian language a resemblance to the twittering of birds : 
Herod. II. 57, Soph. Ant. 1001. The analogy of bird and bar- 
barian is often introduced by Aristophanes in this play and in 
others. See Av. 199, Ran. 582. Hence he may be supposed to 
say here, that Tereus was changed into a (winged) bird from being 
a (barbarian) bird. 

18 (17). "Tharraleides." Most modern editors have received 
this form instead of the MS. reading, Tharreleides, on account of its 
probable derivation from the Greek ' tharraleos,' bold, impudent. 
That any person of the name existed is unlikely. The jay may be 
jestingly called 'a child of impudence.' Scholiasts speak of it as 
a nickname of one Asopodorus. 

19 (18). "Twopence:" lit. an obol: "sixpence:" lit. three 

obols. Round sums are given in the translation; but an obol (the 

1 part of an Attic drachma) was in value about three halfpence. 



Prologos.] THE BIRDS. 



PcithetaeriLS. 
Her croak is different from before, by Jove. 25 

Enelpidcs. 
But, pray, what says she. of the road ? 

Peiihctacrus. 

Til maul 
And gnaw your fingers off,' she says: that's all. 

Enelpidcs. 
Now isn't it monstrous hard that, when we want 
To go to the ravens, and are quite prepared, 
Yet after all we can't find out the way? 30 

Know, gentles, ye that come to hear our plot, 
We're stricken with a certain malady, 
The opposite of that which Sakas has : 
He, no true citizen, is struggling in ; 
While we, full-franchised both in tribe and clan, 35 



16 — 7. I'll maul, &c. (what else says she but that she will maul and 
eat away mv fineers ?) 



29 (28). " To go to the ravens- " Equivalent to our phrase 'to 
go to the dogs.' Ravens were supposed to prey on carcases : and 
all who have read Homer and Sophokles know that exposure with- 
out funeral rites was, among Greeks, a dishonour and a vengeance 
inflicted on the dead. i Go to the ravens ' was a common impreca- 
tion like our ' go to the deuce.' 

33 (3 1 )- "Sakas." Herodotus says (vn. 64) that the Persians 
called ail the Skydiians Sakai. The name Sakas (barbarian) here 
designates the tragic poet Akestor, as Photius informs us. He was 
ridiculed also by Eupolis, Kratinus, and other comic poets. 

35 (j3\ The division of Athenian citizens into tribes (phulai) 
was very ancient: but the four old Ionic tribes were enlarged to the 
number of ten by the constitution of Kleisthenes B.C. 510. They 



THE BIRDS. [Prologos. 



Citizens in the midst of citizens, 

With none to scare us, from our fatherland 

Flew out, as fast as both our feet could waft us; 

Not moved by hatred of that city's self, 

That 'tis not in its nature great and happy, 40 

And free to all alike — to pay their fines in : 

No, faith ! cicalas for a month or two 

Are chirping on the shoots : Athenians ever 

Are chirping on the suits their lifetime through. 

Such are the reasons why we gang this gait : 45 

With sacred corbel, pot and myrtle-sprays, 

We wander, seeking for a suitless spot, 



38 (35). As fast as, &c. (with both our feet). 



were subdivided into boroughs or cantons (demoi). Another divi- 
sion was non-political, into wards (phratriai), and of these into clans 
or families (genea). A genuine citizen belonged to all these divi- 
sions : but the test and proof of legitimacy was the being enrolled 
in the register of the ward (phratria). See Grote's History of Greece, 
Part II. ch. x. and ch. xxxi. 

37 (34)- " Scare." The verb so rendered (sobein) is specially ap- 
plied to the frightening away of birds : ' shoo, shoo. 7 

41, &c. (38, &c.) The litigant habits of the Athenians are ridi- 
culed by Aristophanes, in his comedy called The Wasps, B.C. 
422; where the chorus consists of jurymen wearing masks and 
stings to represent those vexatious insects. 

4 2 (39)- Tne chirping of cicalas on the hedges and trees of 
southern countries is very loud and shrill in hot weather. See 
Horn. II in. 152 ; Plat. Phaedr. 230, c. ; Theocr. xvi. 94. So Verg. 
Eel. 11. 12, Raucis...sole sub ardenti resonant arbusta cicadis. 

46 (43). These objects were ceremonially used in founding a 
colony. The sacred basket contained salted meal and a knife. The 
pot carried the holy fire from the Prytaneum of the mother-city: the 
myrtle-wreaths were worn by the founder during the ceremony of 
foundation: and also when he addressed the people. 



Prologos.] THE BIRDS. 7 

Where we may settle down and spend our lives. 
In short we're bound to Tereus' court, the hoopoe ; 
From him we wish to learn, if such a city 50 

He e'er descried in any of his flights. 

PeitJictaerus. 
Holloa, Sir ! 

Euelpides, 

Well, what now ? 

Peithetaerus. 

The crow some time 
Makes upward signs to me. 

Euelpides. . 

Ay, and this jay 
Stares upward open-mouth'd as shewing me something. 
There must be birds, no question, hereabouts: 55 

But, if we make a noise, we soon shall know. 

Peitlietacrus. 

I'll tell you what to do: just give the rock 

A shin-stroke. 

Euelpides. 

By all means ; and you a head-stroke ; 

A double knock will make a double noise. 

57 — 9 (54 — 5). I'll tell you, &c. (do, do you know what? smite the 
rock with your leg. — Ay, and you with your head, that the noise may be 
double). 

57 (54). " The rock." In the back centre of the stage appears 
amidst the bushes a rock, within which is the hoopoe's abode. This 
corresponds to the central palace gateway, shewn in most Greek 
plays. Two other avenues must be conceived, one on each side 
of the centre ; of which the left leads to the nightingale's dwelling. 



THE BIRDS. [Prologos. 



Peithetaenis. 
Well, take a stone and strike. 

Eitelpides. 

I'll do your bidding. 60 

Boy, boy ! 

Peithetaenis. 

What's that? you call the Hoopoe 'boy'? 
Ought you not rather to cry 'Hoopopoy'? 

Euelpides. 
Hoopopoy ! whooping once, it seems, wo'nt do. 
Hoopopoy ! 

Enter RUNNER-BIRD from the bush. 

Runner-bird. 

Who are these ? Who calls my lord ? 

Euelpides. 
Apollo guard us ! what a monstrous yawn ! 65 

65 (61). Apollo guard us (O Apollo the Averter of evil). 

61 (57). "Boy, boy." The Greek 'pais,' like 'Knabe' in Ger- 
man, was used for boy or slave. 

62 (58). "Hoopopoy." Gr. 'epopoi.' A play on the words 
'epops' (hoopoe) and 'epopoi*ia,' epic poetry. 

63 (59)- The word which follows ' epopoi' implies a pun, which 
it is intended to represent here by the word ( whoop.' Lit. you will 
make me knock again. 

64 (60). The bird, which appears here as the hoopoe's page or 
footman, is called in Greek 'trochilos' (from 'trech-' to run. Some 
take it to mean a wren; others a wagtail. His mask exhibits a beak 
with a very wide expanse ; see v. 65. Perhaps he has wings,. but 
the rest of his dress is probably that of a slave at Athens. 



Prologos.] THE BIRDS. 9 

Runner-bird. 
Me miserable ! they're a brace of fowlers. 

Euelpides. 
So foul a thing is scarce polite to utter. 

Runner-bird. 
You'll both be put to death. 

Euelpides. 

But we're not men. 

Runner-bird. 
What are you ? 

Euelpides. 

Funkling I, a Libyan bird. 

Runner-bird. 
All fudge! 

Euelpides. 

You'll find abundant evidence. 70 

Runner-bird. 
Well, and what bird's this other? wo'nt you speak? 

Peithetaerus. 
Skunkling am I, one of the Telltale tits. 

Euelpides. 
But pr'ythee say, what animal are you ? 

Runner-bird. 

I am a slave-bird. 

Euelpides. 

Did' some cock defeat you ? 

72 (68). " One of the Telltale tits." Lit. a Phasian bird. The 
word Phasian suggests the double notion of pheasant and informer. 

74 (70). Cock-fighting and quail- fighting were fashionable at 
Athens. Prisoners of war were often sold into slavery. 



IO THE BIRDS. [Prologos. 

Runner-bird. 
Not so: but when my lord became a hoopoe, 75 

He prayed that I too might become a bird ; 
So should he have a pursuivant and page. 

Euelpides. 
One bird then needs another for a page ? 

Runner-bird. 
My master does, by reason, I suppose, 
That he was formerly a man ; and so, 80 

When he would lunch upon Phalerian whitebait, 
I run to fetch him whitebait, dish in hand. 
Soup if he craves, ladle and spoon are wanted : 
I run for a ladle. 

Euelpides. 
J Tis the Runner-bird. 
I'll tell you, Runner, what to do : go call 85 

Your master for us. 

Runner-bird. 
Nay, but he's just gone 
To take a nap after a hearty meal 
Of myrtle-berries, with a gnat or two. 

Euelpides. 
Well, wake him all the same. 

Rimner-bird. 

I'm very sure 
He'll be displeas'd, but for your sakes I'll wake him. 50 

\_Exit Runner-bii'd. 



8l (76). 'Aphuai,' small sprats or anchovies, here called white- 
baity were caught off the Phalerian or Eastern port of Athens. 



Prologos.] THE BIRDS. II 

Peithetaerus. 

Go and be hang'd, for frightening me to death. 

Enelpides. 
Woe's me, unlucky wight ! my jay too's gone 
In terror. 

Peithetaerus. 
O you biggest of big cowards, 
Your fright it was allowed the jay to go. 

Enelpides. 
Pray didn't you tumble down and loose the crow ? 95 

Peithetaerus. 

Not I, by Jove. 

Enelpides. 
Where is she ? 

Peithetaerus. 

Flown away. 

Enelpides. 
Oh, you didn't loose her, bravest of the brave. 

The Hoopoe speaks from the bush. 

Hoopoe. 
Open the greenwood, that I may come forth. 

Enter HOOPOE. 
Enelpides. 
Great Herakles ! what animal is here ? 
What plumage this ? what triple-crested fashion ? 100 

Qi (85). Go and be hang'd (may you perish miserably). 97 (91). Bravest 
of the brave (you are so valiant, good Sir). 

100 (94). The hoopoe's costume seems to have been both gro- 
tesque and brilliant. He wears a mask, with a ludicrous beak 



I2 THE BIRDS. [Prologos. 



Hoopoe. 

Who are they that come to seek me? 

Euelpides. 

The twelve gods — 
Seem to have smash'd you. 

Hoopoe. 

Strangers, do you flout me, 

Because you see this plumage? I was once 

A man. 

Euelpides. 

We do not laugh at you. 

Hoopoe. 

What then? 

Euelpides. 

That beak of yours looks to us laughable. 105 

Hoopoe. 
Of course: such insult in his tragedies 
Does Sophokles inflict on me, the Tereus. 



(v. 105) and upon it, apparently, a bunch of feathers, surmounted 
with a high triple crest. In other respects he has a human form 
and a dress of glaring colours (vv. 108 — 9;. 

101 — 2 (95—6). Here is a joke of the class mentioned on v. 17. 
Euelp. pretends to answer the question of the hoopoe by the words, 
the twelve gods, — but roguishly adds, seem to have smashed you. 
' May you be smashed' ! is one of the many Greek forms of impre- 
cation. See v. 1530. i The greater gods' were twelve in number. 

107 (ioo). The tragedy of Sophokles called Tereus was pro- 
bably well known, though of uncertain date ; its highly tragic plot 
would be worked out by the great dramatist with the consummate 
skill which we find in his extant plays. We may surmise that 
in the last scene one of the deities, probably Hermes, arrests the 
infuriated prince, and announces to him his coming metamor- 






Prologos] THE BIRDS. I 



o 



Euelpides. 

You're Tereus, are you ? bird or peacock, which ? 

Hoopoe. 
A bird am I. 

Euelpides. 

Where are your feathers, then ? 

Hoopoe. 
They've fallen off. 

Euelpides. 

Was that from some disease? no 

Hoopoe. 
No: in the winter all birds moult their feathers, 
And then again we fledge another set. 
But tell me what you twain are. 

Euelpides. 

Mortals we. 



phosis, with the changes of Prokne and Philomela. The parti- 
culars of his new form, ' the terrors of his beak and lightnings of 
his eye,' may have been there described : and of such a description 
the hoopoe may here complain as insulting. It suits the purpose of 
Aristophanes to exhibit Tereus in a different aspect, as a powerful 
and friendly bird-prince, and husband of the gentle and melodious 
nightingale, once the Athenian princess Prokne. Hence the Sopho- 
klean legend, fresh in the memory of the audience, is set aside by 
the hoopoe as defaming his character. 

1 08 (102) "Bird or peacock." The ordinary word for bird 
(ornis) sometimes means the domestic fowl or hen. The peacock 
was a novelty rarely brought to Athens from the East at this time, 
(Acha?it. 61), and, as a kind of monster, is here ridiculously dis- 
tinguished from 'bird.' So again v. 287 (269). 



!4 THE BIRDS. [Prologos. 



Hoopoe. 
Your native country? 

Enelpides. 
Whence the gallant triremes. 

Hoopoe. 

Heliasts, are you? 

Enelpides. 

No, the other sort, 115 

Heliast-haters. 

Hoopoe. 

Is that seed sown there ? 
Euelpides. 
A sprinkling you may gather off the field. 

Hoopoe. 
But, pray, what object come you here in quest of? 

Euelpides, 
An interview with you. 

Hoopoe. 

Upon what business ? 

Euelpides, 

Seeing that, first, you once were man, like us, 1 20 
Once money owed to creditors, like us, 

115 — 16 (109 — 10). The supreme Athenian judicature was called 
Heliaea, and the jurymen (dikasts) who served in it Heliasts. See 
Grote's Hist. II. Ch. xxxi. Aristophanes here coins a word ' Apeli- 
asts,' to express shunners or haters of the Heliaea, that is, of litiga- 
tion. 

117 (in). Some commentators find here an allusion to the 
simpler and more virtuous character of the rural population. This 
seems doubtful. 



Prologos.] THE BIRDS. 15 



Once gladly shirk'd repaying it, like us ; 

Next, changing to the nature of the birds, 

You flew about o'er land and sea, and all 

The feelings both of man and bird are yours, 125 

Therefore we're hither come as suppliants to you, 

To see if you can shew us some snug city, 

Soft as a blanket to lie down and snooze in. 

Hoopoe. 
A greater city seek you than the Kranaan? 

Euelpides. 
Not greater, no; but nicer for ourselves. 130 

Hoopoe. 
You seek an aristocracy, that's clear. 

Euelpides. 
Not I : and Skellias' youngster makes me sick. 

Hoopoe. 
What kind of city would you choose to dwell in ? 

Euelpides. 
One where the greatest troubles should be these : 

129 (123). "The Kranaan." This old name for Athens (the 
rocky) was pleasing to the popular ear. Kranaus ranks among the 
mythic heroes of Athens, as stepson and successor of its founder 
Kekrops. 

132 (126). Aristokrates, son of Skellias, played a not unim- 
portant part in Athenian politics after the date of this play. He 
was one of the oligarchy of four hundred established at Athens by 
the conspiracy of B. c. 411. But he concurred with Theramenes in 
resisting the treasonable designs of the more violent oligarchs, and 
in demolishing the fort of Eetioneia. See Thuk. viir. 89. He was 
among the six unfortunate commanders executed at Athens B.C. 406 
for having neglected to succour the wrecked Athenian ships at the 
close of the battle of Arsrinusae. 



j6 THE BIRDS. [Prologos. 



Some friend should seek my door at morning tide, 135 

And say, 'By Zeus Olympius I beseech, 

You and your children take an early bath, 

And visit me : I give a wedding breakfast ; 

Don't think of saying no, or, if you do, 

Never approach me, when my fortunes ebb.' 140 

Hoopoe. 

Good sooth, sad troubles you're enamoured of. 

And you ? 

Peitlietaerus. 

My longing is the same. 

Hoopoe. 

For what ? 

Peitlietaerus. 

One where a friend should meet me in the street, 

The father of a marriageable daughter, 144 

And rate me soundly thus, as having wronged him : 

' Stilbonides, you never come to see 

My little girl ; I'll whisper in your ear, 

She'll have five talents for her marriage-portion; 

And you're my old hereditary friend.' 



137 (132). Bathing before meals, especially before a banquet, 
was the usual practice at Athens. See Lysist. 1064. 

140 (134). " Ebb." A jocular inversion of the ordinary proverb. 
The following line is ironical ; as again, v. 150. 

146 (139) " Stilbonides." This is an imaginary name adopted 
1 ere by Peitlietaerus : but there is nothing to account for the selec- 
tion of it. 

146 — 8. Part of this speech is substituted, not translated. 



Prologos.] THE BIRDS. 17 

Hoopoe. 
Poor fellow, what afflictions you're in love with! 150 
Well, there's a city such as you describe, 
Favoured of fortune, on the Red-sea coast. 

Euelpides. 
Ah ! name it not : no seaside place for us, 
Where sudden, some fine morning, will pop up, 
Carrying a summoner, the Salaminia* 155 

But can you tell us some Hellenic city ? 

Hoopoe. 
Why don't you go to Lepreus of Elis, 
And there reside ? 

152 (145). "On the Red-sea coast." The Happy Land of the 
ancients was sometimes imagined in the extreme East, as here, 
where Red-sea means the Persian gulph, sometimes among the 
Hyperboreans (see Pind. Pyth. x.) ; sometimes in the farthest West, 
the Fortunate Islands. So the Middle Ages had their fanciful 
Eldorado, realized in some measure by the discovery of America 
and Australia. 

155 (147). "The Salaminia." Athens had two state triremes, 
Paralus and Salaminia. The latter was used to send officers for the 
arrest of accused persons. Aristophanes alludes to the recall and 
attempted arrest of Alkibiades by the home government on the 
charge of sacrilege and treason in the affair of the Hermokopidae. 
This had occurred shortly before the production of The Birds. 
See Thuk. vi. 6. Grote's Hist, of Greece, 11. Ch. lviii. 

157 (149). Lepreum or Lepreus was a town of Triphylian Elis. 
See Grote's Hist., II. Ch. lv. It suggests the idea of Melanthius, 
who was afflicted with a leprous eruption. This Melanthius was a 
tragic poet, son of Philokles, and had already, with his brother 
Morsimus, fallen under the lash of Aristophanes in The Peace 
(v. 804, 1009) as a coarse epicure. He was ridiculed also by the 
comic writers Pherekrates, Eupolis, Archippus, and others. 

2 



THE BIRDS. [Prologos. 



Euelpides. 
Because, so witness heaven, 
Although I never saw it, from Melanthius 
The very name of Lepreus turns my stomach. 160 

Hoopoe, 
In Lokris there's another breed, Opuntians, 
Where you should settle. 

Euelpides. 

To become Opuntius, 
No, not a talent's weight of gold would tempt me. 
But what's the style of living with the birds ? 
You know it well, no doubt. 
Hoopoe. 

Not disagreeable 165 

For daily wear and tear: to take an instance, 
You have to live without a purse. 

Euelpides. 

Good riddance 

Of one of life's most palpable corruptions ! 

Hoopoe. 

We feed in gardens on white sesame-grains, 

On myrtle-berries, poppy-seed, and water-mint. 170 

Euelpides. 

Then 'tis a life of bridegrooms that you lead. 

167 (158). Good, &c. (you remove a great adulteration of life). 

161 (152). The Lokri Opuntii, so called from Opus, their 
capital, suggest the name of Opuntius, an ugly one-eyed person. 

171(161). "Bridegrooms." Of the vegetables here named some : 
were used in the decoration of wedding-feasts, others in the food, 
as sesame and poppy-seeds. 



Prologos.] THE BIRDS. 1 9 

Peithetaems. 
Huzza ! huzza ! 

I spy a great design, I really do, 
Within the scope of birds to frame, and power 
To work it out, if you will only take 175 

My counsel. 

Hoopoe. 
Take what counsel ? 
Peithetaems. 

What? why first 
Cease flying all about with open bills : 
Such conduct's not respectable. For instance, 
In our world there inquire about the flutterers, 
'Who's yonder fellow?' Teleas will reply, 180 

'Oh, that's a bird-man flying without ballast, 
All aimless, never staying in one spot.' 

Hoopoe. 

Right well you ridicule such ways, by Bacchus. 
What must we do, then ? 

Peithetaems. 

Found a single city. 

Hoopoe. 
What sort of city could we found, we birds? 185 



180 (168). "Teleas." Nothing is really known of this person. 
He is mentioned again, v. 1025, as giving a public commission. 
Hence it may be conjectured that he held some position in the 
Athenian police. 

2 — 2 



» 



20 THE BIRDS. [Prologos. 



Peithetaerus. 

So, so ? you speaker of the silliest speech, 

Look down. 

Hoopoe. 

I'm looking. 

Peithetaerus. 

Now look up. 

Hoopoe. 

I do. 
Peithetaerus. 

Now turn your neck about. 

Hoopoe. 

A pretty gain 
Twill be, forsooth, if I'm to wring my neck. 

Peithetaerus. 
Did you see something ? 

Hoopoe. 
Yes ; the clouds and sky. 190 

Peithetaerus. 
These constitute, I think, the site of birds. 

Hoopoe. 
'Site!' how do you mean? 

Peithetaerus. 

Another term for 'seat/ 

191 — 196 (179 — 184). The jeu de mots in these lines is pre- 
served by substituting for three Greek words (polos, topos, poleitai) 
three English words 'site/ 'seat,' 'sight,' with which the word 
' city ' (polis) happens to correspond sufficiently. 






Prologos.] THE BIRDS. 2 1 

There's such a sight of things within their range, 

That now they're naturally called 'a site;' 

But, settled once, and fortified by you, 195 

Instead of 'site' they shall be term'd 'a city/ 

So will ye rule o'er men as over locusts, 

And wear the gods to death with Melian famine. 

Hoopoe. 
How so ? 

Peithetaerus. 

The air's midway, methinks, from earth : 

And just as, if we want to visit Delphi, 200 

We ask Boeotians for a passage through, 

Even so, whene'er men sacrifice to gods, 

Unless the gods agree to pay you tribute, 

You'll not let savoury meat-steams pass your way. 

Hoopoe. 
Bravo ! bravo ! 205 

By earth, by snares, by gins, by nets, I never — 

No, never did I hear a prettier notion : 



198 (186). "Melian famine." The Athenians had blockaded 
the isle of Melos, and starved it into surrender two years before, 
B.C. 416. 

200 (189). At Delphi, in Phokis, was the great temple of the 
Pythian Apollo ; and the road to it from Athens lay through Boeotia. 
Hence the Athenians, when they wished to attend the games or 
consult the oracle, were obliged to seek permission from their 
enemies the Thebans to pass through Boeotian territory. 

206 (194). As swearing is the attestation of a superior and. 
dreaded power, Aristophanes jestingly makes the hoopoe swear by 
nets and snares of which he stands in awe. 



22 THE BIRDS. [Prologos. 



So with your help the city will I found, 
Consent being given by the other birds. 

Peithetaerus. 
Who will expound the matter to them? 

Hoopoe. 

You shall : 210 

For, though they were a barbarous race before, 

I taught them language, living with them long. 

Peithetaerus. 
How then can you convoke them ? 

Hoopoe. 

Easily. 

I'll enter here at once into the bush, 

And after I've aroused my nightingale, 215 

We'll call them. If they do but hear our voice, 

They'll run full speed. 

Peithetaerus. 

Then stay not, dearest bird, 
But, I beseech you, go into the bush 
This instant, and arouse the nightingale. 

[The Hoopoe enters the bush and chants. 

Hoopoe. 
Cease, my mate, from slumber now ; 220 

220 (209). The hoopoe goes into the bush by the left back 
entrance towards the nightingale's abode and chants the invocation 
to her. Afterwards he returns and approaches the right back 
entrance from which he chants the lines summoning the birds, 
v. 241, &c. These two songs (asmata) wind up the Prologos and 
lead to the Parodos. 



AsmaL] the birds. 23 

Let the sacred hymn-notes flow, 

Wailing with thy voice divine 

Long-wept Itys, mine and thine. 

So, when thy brown beak is thrilling 

With that holy music-trilling, 225 

Through the woodbine's leafy bound 

Swells the pure melodious sound 

To the throne of Zeus : and there 

Phoebus of the golden hair, 

Hearing, to thine elegies 250 

With the awaken'd chords replies 

Of his ivory-clasped lyre, 

Stirring all the Olympian quire ; 

Till from each immortal tongue 

Of that blessed heavenly throng 235 

Peals the full harmonious song. 

[Music is played, imitating the notes of the 

nightingale. 
Euelpides. 
O royal Zeus ! that bird's voice ! what a flood 
Of honey did it stream o'er all the wood ! 

Peithetaerus. 

Holloa, Sir! 

Etcelpides. 
Well, what now ? 

Peithetaerus. 

Be silent. 

Euelpides. 

Why? 



24 THE BIRDS. [Asma II. 

Peithetaerus. 
The Hoopoe frames another melody. 240 



Hoopoe. 

Epopopopopopopopopopopopopoi ! 

Holloa ! holloa ! what ho ! what ho ! 

Hither haste, my plume-partakers ; 

Come many, come any 

That pasture on the farmer's well-sown acres, 245 

Tribes countless that on barley feed, 

And clans that gather out the seed ; 

Come, alert upon the wing, 

Dulcet music uttering : 

Ye that o'er the furrowed sod 250 

Twitter upon every clod, 

Making all the air rejoice 

With your soft and slender voice : 

Tio, tio, tio, tio, tio, tio, tio, tio. 

Ye that feast on garden fruits, 

Nestling 'midst the ivy shoots: 

Ye that all the mountains throne, 

Olive-croppers, arbute-loppers, 

Haste and fly to greet my song. 

Trioto, trioto, totobrix ! 160 

Ye that o'er the marshy flats 

Swallow down the shrill-mouthed gnats ; 

Ye that haunt the deep-dew'd ground 

Marathon's sweet meads around, 



■ 



AsmaIL] THE BIRDS. 



Ouzel, and thou of the speckled wing, 265 

Hazelhen, hazelhen, speed while I sing. 

Come many, come any 

With the halcyon brood that sweep 

Surges of the watery deep, 

Come and list to novel words, 270 

Which to hear, from far and near 

We gather all the tribes of neckextending birds. 

Here is arrived a sharp old man 

Of revolutionary mind, 

To revolutionary deeds inclined : 275 

Come all, and listen to his plan. 

Hither, hither, hither, hither, 

Torotorotorotorotix, 

Kikkabau kikkabau, 

Torotorotorotorolililix. 280 

Peithetaems. 

See you some bird ? 

Euelpides. 

By Apollo, no, not I : 
Yet all agape I'm gazing on the sky. 



265 (249). The correction of Meineke, followed by Holden, is 
here adopted. It introduces a bird called 'pteron/ rendered 
ouzel (as ' attagas ' hazelhen\ but the names are dubious. 

272 (254). " Neckextending." Characteristic epithet. 

281 (263). Here we have the preparation for the Parodos or 
arrival of the Chorus, which actually commences at v. 312. The 
two Athenians look about them for birds: at last one appears (v. 
285), about which they question the hoopoe, who has returned to 
the logeion. 



2 6 THE BIRDS. [Parodos. 



Peithetaerus. 
So then the Hoopoe went into the wood 
And mocked the curlew's screaming for no good. 

Bird entering. 

Torotix, torotix. 285 

Peithetaerus. 

Nay, my friend; this very moment here's a bird ap- 
proaching close. 



284 (266). "Curlew." The bird here mentioned (charadrius) is 
afterwards (1141) called a river-bird. Aristotle says it builds in 
rocks and near cataracts. But naturalists have not certainly iden- 
tified it. 

285 — 322 (267 — 304). The four birds which first appear do not 
belong to the Chorus, but come through the stage entrance (or 
entrances) on the right (of the spectators) and retire again. The 
first is a flamingo (v. 291). The second, which the hoopoe calls 
Medus (that is, the Persian bird), is some variety of our domestic 
cock, brought to Greece from the East. The third is an imaginary 
variety of the hoopoe, invented to suit a comic purpose. The 
fourth, here called Gobbler, is likewise a mere invention, ridiculing 
Kleonymus. All four were no doubt brilliantly and fantastically got 
up. The twenty-four birds afterwards mentioned, beginning with 
the partridge and ending with the woodchat, constitute the Chorus. 
They enter the orchestra by the right-hand parodos and array 
themselves on the platform. Either they represent birds by their 
masks only, or they may also shew rudimental wings; but body 
and feet are human, with dresses various, rich and ludicrous. The 
special mention of the owl at v. 319, and its dignity as the bird 
of Pallas Athene, lead to the conjecture that it plays the part oi 
coryphaeus or speaker of the Chorus. Of the birds enumerated 
some can be certainly recognized by English names: as the par- 
tridge, owl, pye, turtle, lark, pigeon, hawk, cuckoo, falcon, diver 
osprey. For the rest, which are unknown, English substitutes an 
adopted. 



Parodos.] THE BIRDS. 2 J 

Euelpides. 
Ay, by Jove ! what bird, I wonder ? 'Tis a peacock, 

I suppose. 

Peithetaerus. 

Our obliging friend will tell us. What's this bird, Sir? 
kindly say. 

Hoopoe. 

'Tis not one of those accustomed sorts you're seeing 

every day, 

But a lake-bird. 

Euelpides. 

O the beauty ! What a brilliant tint of flame ! 290 

Hoopoe. 
And a very proper colour, for i flamingo ' is its name. 

Euelpides. 

Holloa, you Sir ! 

Peithetaerus. 

What dye bawl at? 

Euelpides. 

Here's another coming now. 

Peithetaerus. 
Yes, another bird, and 'holding an uncommon site/ I 
vow. 

287. " Peacock." See note on v. 108. 

291(273). "Flamingo:" Gr. ' phoenikopteros/ i.e. scarlet-wing. 
Hence in v. 290, lit. 'how beautiful and scarlet-coloured !' 

293 (275). "Holding an uncommon site." Words taken from 
the second Tyro of Sophokles : they here mean 'out of the common 
way.' 



>8 THE BIRDS. [Parodos. 



Pray, Sir, what is that absurd delicate-treading muse- 
seer bird ? 

Hoopoe. 

Medus is its native title. 

Euclpidcs. 

Medus ? Herakles the king ! 
Flying in without a camel ! Could a Mede do such a 
thing ? 296 

Peithetaerus. 

Here's another bird that's taken to himself a crest 
again. 



296 (278). Flying in, &c. (how then, being a Mede, did he fly in 
without a camel?) 297 (279). Taken to himself (seized). 



291 (276). Some editors divide this verse between Peithetaerus 
and Hoopoe. 'Who is this, Sir? — 'Tis the absurd, &c.' This seems 
improbable. The epithets suggested to Peithetaerus by the ap- 
pearance of the cock are unsuited to the hoopoe's reply. The 
term "absurd" is already contained in the tragic citation v. 293. 
"Delicate-treading" is drawn from the strutting air of the cock, 
which brings to mind the oriental gait. Why the cock is called 
"muse-seer" by Peithetaerus is not so obvious : perhaps his pomp- 
ous manner of crowing suggests the solemn delivery of an oracle. 

296 (278). The Persian wars had introduced the camel to the 
knowledge of the Greeks. Hence a Mede is jocularly supposed 
by Aristophanes to require a camel, even when flying on the stage 
as a bird. 

297 (279). Here is a play on the Greek noun (lophos), which, 
like the English 'crest/ may refer to a helmet or to a hill. Hence 
the choice of the word "taken," which slightly keeps up the double 
sense. It seems to prepare for the continuation of the joke in 
v. 311. 



Parodos.] THE BIFDS. 29 



Euelpides. 
Hey ! what's this by way of marvel ? Are not you 

sole Hoopoe, then ? 
Have you got a double, please ? 

Hoopoe. 

This is son of Philokles, 
Son of Hoopoe : I'm his grandsire : like your own our 
titles run, 300 

Kallias son of Hipponikus, Hipponikus Kallias' son. 

Euelpides. 

Kallias then this bird you call : see how fast his feathers 

fall. 

Hoopoe. 

Yes, because he is a lordling, parasites his plumage 

clip; 

And the lady-birds moreover all the little remnant strip. 

299 (281). Have you got a double, please? (but is this too a second?) 
300 (282). Like your own, &c. (as if you were to say). 

299 (281). "Son of Philokles." The explanation of this difficult 
place, according to the Scholiast, is as follows. Philokles was a 
prolific tragic poet, sister's son to Aeschylus. He wrote a te- 
tralogy called Pandio7iis, in which was contained the story of 
Tereus. The hoopoe, as appears from v. 107, identifies himself 
with the Tereus of Sophokles, though dissatisfied with his own 
portraiture in the drama of that poet. He seems to say, 'I am 
the original Hoopoe (of Sophokles), and Philokles a son of mine 
(which may mean that Philokles plagiarized from Sophokles) who 
has produced another Hoopoe, so called from his grandsire, by 
a fashion familiar to the great houses at Athens/ This leads 
to identification of the featherless hoopoe minor with Kallias 
son of Hipponikus, a dissolute young man, whose sister married 
Alkibiades. For other opinions on the passage, see Appendix. 



30 



THE BIRDS, [Parodos. 



Euelpides. 
O Poseidon ! here's another particoloured bird in sight : 
What's the title we're to give him ? 

Hoopoe. 
Call him Gobbler, and you're right. 306 

Buelpides. 
Gobbler is there any known save Kleonymus alone ? 

Peitketaerus. 
If Kleonymus we call him, ought he not his crest to 
lose ? 

Euelpides. 

Well, but whence arose this fashion of the birds, a 

crest to use ? 
Went they to the double-heat race? 

Hoopoe. 
No, good Sir, they build their nests 310 
With a view to preservation, like the Karians, upon 
crests. 



307 (289). Kleonymus is ridiculed as a tall handsome man, 
but gluttonous, mean and cowardly, who fled from battle without 
his shield. 

310 (292). In the double-heat race (diaulos dromos) the racers 
ran round the goal back to the starting-place. Sometimes it was 
an armed race, in which the panoply of the hoplite was worn. 
To such a race is the allusion here. 

311 (292). Herodotus (1. 171) says that the Karians invented 
the fashion of wearing crests on helmets. Aristophanes jocularly 
calls it dwelling on crests, because the Karians, like the old Italian 
tribes, built their towns on hill-tops. 






Parodos.] THE BIRDS. 3 1 

PeitJietaerus. 
O Poseidon ! what a plaguy lot of birds are gather'd 
here ! 

Don't you see ? 

Euelpides. 
O king Apollo, what a cloud ! O dear ! O dear ! 
For their flying now no more can we see the entrance- 
door. 

Hoopoe. 
Hither is a partridge coming, there a hazelhen is shewn ; 
Upon this side is a widgeon : upon that a halcyon. 316 

Peithetaems. 
What's the one we see behind her ? 

Hoopoe. 
That one ? Razorbill's the name. 
PeitJietaerus. 
Razorbill's a bird then ? 

Euelpides. 
Call it Sporgilus, 'twill be the same. 

Hoopoe. 
Here's an owl. 

PeitJietaerus. 

What's this you tell me ? Who to Athens 
brought an owl ? 



314 (296). "The entrance-door." The right-hand parodos of 
the orchestra is here implied. 

317 (299). A certain seabird, properly 'kerulos/ is here called 
1 keirulos ' (cutting-bird or razorbill), which suggests the mention of 
an Athenian barber Sporgilus. 

319 (301). To bring an owl to Athens (where so many coins 



12 THE BIRDS. [Parodos. 



Hoopoe, 
Pye and turtle, lark and pigeon, goatsucker and guinea- 
fowl, 320 
Hawk and falcon, cushat, cuckoo, redshank, redpole, 

come in view, 
Gannet, kestrel, diver, osprey, flycatcher, and wood- 
chat too. 

Euelpides. 

Merrily, merrily come the birds, merrily come the black- 
birds all : 

What a twittering! what a fluttering! what variety of 
squall ! 

Don't they threaten us ? I fear so : sure with yawning 
beaks they blink, 325 

And on you and me are staring. 

Peithetaerus. 

You are right, I really think. 

Chorus. 
Wh — wh — wh — wh — where is he summon'd me ? 
in w r hat region feedeth he ? 

Hoopoe. 
Here am I long time expecting: from my friends I 
never flee. 



323 — 4 (305—7). (Oho, oho the birds! oho, oho the blackbirds ! how 
they chirp and run crying variously !) 

and sculptures bore the image of the bird of Pallas Athene) 
was a proverb conveying the same idea as ' carrying coals to 
Newcastle' in English. The joke is heightened by making Peithe- 
taerus forget that he is not now at Athens, but in Birdland. 



Parodos.] THE BIRDS. 



Chorus. 
JT — t — t — t — tell me, pray, what to-day friendly 
word have you to say ? 

Hoopoe. 

One that's safe and just and pleasant and of public 
use, you'll find : 330 

Here are two men come to see me, schemers both, of 
subtle mind. 

Chorus. 

Where ? which way ? what do you say ? 

Hoopoe. 
Two old men are come, I answer, hither from the Isle 

of Man : 
And they bring a business with them, solid, of enor- 
mous span. 

Chorus. 
O you worst of all offenders since I first began to feed, 
What do you tell me ? 

Hoopoe. 

Don't be frightened. 

Chorus. 
What is this unfriendly deed ? 336 

Hoopoe. 
I've receiv'd two men, enamoured of a social league 
with you. 



333 (3 2 °)* From the Isle of Man (from men). 



34 THE BIRDS. [Parodos. 



Chorus. 
So you've really gone and done it? 

Hoopoe. 

Ay, and very gladly too. 

Chorus. 
And are they now somewhere near us ? 

Hoopoe. 

Yes, if I am near to you. 

Chorus. 
Alas, alas ! betrayed are we, 34° 

Treated with impiety : 
He who was our friend, who feeds 
Near us in our common meads, 
All our ancient rules forsaking, 

All the oaths of birds is breaking; 345 

Lures me to a treacherous place, 
Sells me to an impious race, 
Which was ever unto me 
Bred in mortal enmity, 

Since it first began to be. 350 

But we shall proceed to reckon with the bird another 

day; 
For these two old men, I'd have them now the penal 

forfeit pay, 
And be torn in pieces by us. 

Peithetaerus. 

There ! all's up with us, you see. 

Euelpides. 
Yes, and you alone must answer for our dire calamity. 
For what purpose did you lead me thence ? 



Parodos.] THE BIRDS, 35 



Peitketaerus. 

That you might follow me. 355 

Enelpides. 
Nay, that I might cry my eyes out. 

Peitketaerus. 

Pack of nonsense that about 
Crying ; how are you to do it when your eyes are once 

torn out ? 

Chorus, 
Ho! forward! march, advance the deadly warlike charge: 
Throw out both wings, and to outflank, our front enlarge : 
Since the twain must weep and cry, 360 

And pasture to the beak supply. 
For nor shady mountain lair, 
Nor the cloud that sails in air, 
Nor any depth of hoary sea 

May shelter them escaped from me. 365 

So let us delay no longer both our foes to tear and 

bite ; 
Where's the general of division ? let him straight lead 

on our right. 



358 (343), &c. The Birds, displeased at the reception of men, 
prepare to assail. the two Athenians, who, arming themselves with 
their cooking utensils, and supported by their slaves, stand on the 
defensive. 

367 (353). "General of division:" taxiarch. There were ten 
taxiarchs at Athens commanding the infantry of the ten tribes, 
and ten phylarchs commanding the cavalry : all under the ten 
strategi or board of generals in chief (war-office). This function is 
jocularly transferred to the Birds. See Grote, Part II. Ch. viii. 

3—2 



3 6 THE BIRDS. [Parodos. 

Euelpides. 
Tis the crisis : whither wretched can I fly ? 

Peithetaeriis. 

What, won't you stay ? 

Euelpides. 
To be torn in pieces by them ? 
Peithetaeriis. 

Can you then invent a way 

To escape ? 

Euelpides. 

I know none. 

Peithetaeriis. 
Then I'll tell you how to manage it: 370 
We must make a standing fight, and take some pots 
from out our kit. 

Euelpides. 
And what good's a pot to do us ? 

Peithetaeriis. 

This the owl will not molest. 

Euelpides. 
But for these crooktalon'd wretches ? 

Peithetaeriis. 

Grasp the spit, and let it rest 



37 J (357)- The pots (chutrai) seem to be here used first as hel- 
mets, and afterwards, with the platters, as ramparts. 

372 (358). The owl will not molest the pot, because on Athenian 
coins the owl was perched on a pot, which was called an invention 
of Pallas •, and the pot was carried in procession at the Panathenaea. 



. 



Parodos.] THE BIRDS. 37 

In your front full firmly planted. 

Enelpides. 

For the eyes what must be done ? 

Peithetaerns. 
Take a saucer or a platter out, and tie it tightly on. 

Euelpides. 
O you cleverest of commanders, all your plan is well 
design'd ; 376 

In the art of engineering you ve left Nikias far behind. 

Chorus. 

Eleleleu, quick march, present the beak ; no moment 

for delay: 

Haul 'em, tear 'em, smite 'em, flay 'em, striking first 

the pot away. 

Hoopoe. 

Vilest of the brute creation, tell me, would you slay 
and skin 380 

Two men who have never harm'd you, of my lady's 
tribe and kin ? 

Chorus. 

Spare them ? spare the wolves then : can we punish a 
more hostile kind ? 



382 (369). Spare them? spare the wolves then (why should we spare 
these more than wolves ?) 



377 (3^3)' Nikias was highly esteemed for his skill in conduct- 
ing sieges. See Thuk. in. 51. vi. 

378 (364). The Birds are about to charge, but the Hoopoe, 
interposing, persuades them to give audience to Peithetaerus. 



38 THE BIRDS. [Parodos. 



Hoopoe. 

Hostile if they are by nature, yet they bear a friendly 

mind, 

And a thing they're come to teach us we may to our 

profit find. 

Chorus. 

Can it be then to our profit, any tale by these men told, 

Any lesson of their teaching, foemen to my sires of 

old? 386 

Hoopoe. 

Much instruction do the wise gather from their enemies : 

' Good precaution's sure salvation :' this from friends 

you never learn ; 
But your foeman puts the screw on, and 'tis taught 

you to a turn. 
Foes, not friends, instructed nations fortresses and fleets 

to make : 390 

And this lesson saves their children, homes, and all 

they have at stake. 

Chorus. 
Well, indeed, in my opinion, giving audience to their 

speech 

May be useful to begin with : something wise a foe may 
teach. 

Peithetaerus. 
Now their wrath they seem to slacken ; so retire a step 
or two. 

389 (377)- But your foeman &c. (but the enemy compels immediately.) 
39° (378)' (Cities for instance learnt from foes and not friends to build 
up high walls and to acquire ships of war.) 

397 (386), &e. The Athenians still maintain a defensive posi- 
tion, while the Hoopoe explains to the chorus the mission of Pei- 



all 
heir 



Parodos.] THE BIRDS. 



39 






Hoopoe. 
What you said is common justice, and your thanks to 
me are due. ogq 

Chorus. 
Ne'er on any other question have we been opposed 

to you. 

PeitJietaerits. 
They're more peaceful than before; so the pot and 

dishes lower : 
For the spear (I mean the spit), we must still be 

holding it, 
As we pace the encampment, peeping 
O'er the kettle's rim, and keeping 400 

Good look out : we must not fly. 

Eitelpides. 
In what soil, then, if we die, 
Tell me, shall we buried lie ? 

Peithetaerus. 
Burial-place for you and me 
Shall the Kerameikus be : 405 



404 (395). (The Kerameikus will receive us ; for that we may be pub- 
licly buried, we will say to the strategi, &c.) 



thetaerus. They then consent to a truce, which they confirm by- 
oath. 

398 — 401 (388 — 392). There is probably some corruption in 
the Greek : but the meaning must be nearly that here expressed. 

405 (395). "Kerameikus f Potter's ground. The public funerals 



THE BIRDS. [Paropos. 



Public funeral to secure, 
We shall the war-office tell, 
'Fighting with the foe we fell 
In the battle of Birdpur.' 

Chorus. 
Now again your steps retrace ; 4"> 

Wheel into your former place : 
Stooping there in hoplite fashion 
Ground your temper next your passion, 
That by inquiry we may find 

Whence come this pair, and with what mind. 41 5 

Sir Hoopoe, you I call : what ho ! 

Hoopoe. 
What does your calling seek to know ? 

Chorus. 

Who are these ? whence come they ? tell us. 

Hoopoe. 
Strangers they from clever Hellas. 



of those slain in battle were celebrated in the outer Keiamokus at 
Athens. See Thuk. II. 34, with the notes of commentators. 

409 (399). " In the battle of Birdpur :» lit. ' at Orneae ; a play 
on 'ornea,' birds. Orneae, a town in Argolis, was besieged by the 
Athenians and Argives two years before this play was acted ; but as 
the garrison evacuated the town in the night, there was no fighting. 
and no lives lost ; which adds zest to the joke here. 

413 (401). Instead of saying 'ground your spear beside your, 
shield,' like the 'hoplite' or heavy-armed soldier, they are joculaily 
made to say 'ground your temper beside your passion' or anger. 



Parodos.] THE BIRDS. 41 

Chorus. 
To the birds what fortune brings 'em ? 420 

Hoopoe. 
Love of birds and birdlife stings 'em. 
Dwellers with you they would be, 
Ever of your company. 

Chorus. 

What's this story that you tell ? 

What proposals do they make ? 425 

Hoopoe. 
Incredible, incredible, 
Far too large for ears to take. 

Chorus. 

Sees he then a chance of gaining; 

Any good by here remaining? 

Does he certainly confide, 430 

Dwelling ever at my side, 

To o'erthrow 

Any foe, 

Any friend 

To defend ? 435 



420, &c. (4 to, &c). (The desire of what fortune brings them to visit 
the birds ? — Of your life and habits, and of dwelling with you and being 
with you entirely ?) ♦ 

427 (416). Far too, &c. (beyond hearing). 



430 (417). Here and afterwards the chorus speak in the singular 
of Peithetaerus only, as the principal planner. 



42 THE BIRDS. [Parodos. 

Hoopoe. 
He predicts for you and me 
Some immense felicity, 
Not by language to be taught, 
Not to be conceiv'd in thought. 

He will prove by reasons strong 440 

All these things to you belong, 
All that's here and all that's hither, 
All that's there and all that's thither. 

Chorus. 

What? is he a brainsick fool? 

Hoopoe, 
Monstrous sensible and cool. 445 

Chorus. 
Has he learnt a trick or two ? 

Hoopoe. 
'Cutest fox I ever knew 
Plans and precedents to show'r, 
Smooth as butter, fine as flour. 

Chorus. 
His proposals unto me 450 

Bid him utter, utter, 
Listening to the tale, you see, 

Sets me all a-flutter. 



438 (422). Not by, &c. (neither utterable nor credible.) 
_ 444, &c. (426, &c). (Is he mad then ?— Unspeakably sensible.— Is there 
wisdom in his heart?— He is a very deep fox, a sophism, a success, an old 
hand, and mere fine flour.) 



! 



Parodos.] THE BIRDS. 43 

Hoopoe. 
Now you and you this panoply take back 
And hang it up, in prospect of good luck, 455 

Within the kitchen by the plate-rack's side. 
And you, Sir, make the statements, which to hear 
I summon'd these : expound. 

Peithelaerus. 

Not 'I, by Apollo! 
Unless they make the covenant with me, 
Which with his wife that ape the swordwright made, 
That they won't bite or worry me; in short, 461 

Won't scratch my eyes out. 

Chorus. 

Good : I covenant. 

Peithetaerus. 



Then swear it. 



Chorus. 
Well, I swear: if I am faithful, 



463 (445). (I swear on these conditions : that /conquer by all the judges 
and all the spectators. — This shall be so. — But, should I transgress, that I 
conquer by one judge only.) 

454 (435). The hoopoe speaks to the two Athenian slaves: 
and as the panoply.of their masters consists of pots, spits, &c, he 
bids them take all into his kitchen, and hang them up near the 
'epistates,' a term variously explained as 'a bust of the fire-god 
Hephaestus,' 'a boiler,' 'a meatscreen' or 'hastener,' 'a plate-rack,' 
which last interpretation is here adopted, as on the whole most 
probable. 

460 (440). "That ape." The person meant is a cutler named 
Panaetius, of dwarfish size, whose wife ill-used him, until he forced 
her to make a covenant of good behaviour. 

463 (445). "If I am faithful." These words, though not ex- 
pressed in the Greek, are necessarily implied. 



44 THE BIRDS, [Parodos. 



Then, by the votes of all the judges here, 

And all spectators, the first prize be mine. 465 

Peithetaerus. 

Accepted. 

Chorus. 

But, if I transgress the oath, 
Then by one judge's casting-vote — I win. 

Hoopoe. 

Oyez, oyez ! let every hoplite now 

Take up his armour and go home again, 

And note our proclamations on the signboards. 470 

Chorus. 

At every time, on every side, Strophe. 

Man's crafty nature is descried. 
Yet freely speak your mind : 
For haply you may find 

468 (448). Oyez, oyez (hear, O people). 

467 (447). "I win." He ought to say C I lose:' but by an un- 
expected joke the condition is reversed. 

468 (448). "Oyez." The regular form of disbanding soldiers 
for the time, as used by the strategus, is here jocularly placed in 
the Hoopoe's mouth. 

471, &c. (451, &c). After a short Chorikon, of which the Anti- 
strophe is at v. 566 (539), Peithetaerus, as a skilful rhetorician, 
undertakes to prove, by a series of ludicrous arguments, that the 
Birds are the true original deities, and the Olympian gods usurpers 
This forms the First Episode. See Introduction. 

471 (451). The Birds confess man's superior insight, and de- 
clare their wish to hear Peithetaerus. 



Epeisodion L] THE BIRDS. 45 

Some useful character in me, 475 

Some mightier faculty, 

To which my witless thoughts ne'er travelled, 

By your acuter sense unravelled. 

Such vantage-ground if you have found, 

Unto the public ear the case expound : 480 

Since all of good you gain for me 

Our common property shall be. 

So whatever be the thing you with full conviction 

bring, 
Let it now be boldly spoken : for our truce will not 

be broken. 

Peithetaerus. 
My mind, be sure, is eagerly at work, e'en now indeed 
One ready-leaven'd argument the time is come to 

knead. 486 

Ho, boy, a crown ! and here, some slave, bring water 

quick, my hands to lave. 

Euclpidcs. 
Is there a dinner in the wind ? or w T hat are we to 
have ? 



477 — 80 (456 — 7). To which... expound (passed over by my witless 
mind: but this which you see speak publicly). 



485 (462). Peithetaerus proceeds, by a comic induction, to 
demonstrate the ancient dignity and power of the Birds. 

486 (463). A metaphor from the process of bread-making. 

487 (463). As about to speak on a solemn occasion, Peithe- 
taerus calls for a myrtle wreath and a ewer of water. Euelpides, 
pretending to mistake the motive, asks if they are going to dine. 



46 THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion I. 

Peithetaerus, 
No : but I've long desired to speak a big well-fatten'd 

word, 
By which the nation here may feel its spirit deeply 

stirr'd ; 49° 

So sorrowful am I for you, who anciently were kings. 

Chorus. 
We kings ? of what ? 

Peithetaerus. 
Indeed you were, of all existing things ; 
Of me, my friend here, Jove himself. Ere Kronos was, 

ye were ; 
Before the Titan brood and Earth. 

Chorus. 

And Earth? 

Peithetaerus. 

'Tis true, I swear. 494 
Chorus. 

I never heard, so help me Jove! a word of this before. 

Peithetaerus. 
You're such a dull incurious lot, unread in Aesop's lore ; 

490 (466). By which, &c. (which shall crush the soul of these). 
494 (470). 'Tis true, I swear (yea by Apollo). 

489 (465). " Well-fattened." The Greek word, usually applied 
to an ox, implies vastness and vigour. 

493 (469)* " Kronos" (Saturn), the mythic father of Zeus, is a 
name which suggests the remotest antiquity. 

496 (471). "Aesop's lore." The life of Aesop (Aesopos), the 
renowned fabulist, is in a great degree legendary. He is said to 
have been a deformed Phrygian slave, about B.C. 570, contempo- 



Epeisodion L] THE BIRDS. 47 

Whose story says, the lark was born first of the feathered 

quire, 
Before the earth ; then came a cold and carried off his 

sire : 
Earth was not: five days lay the old bird untomb'd : 

at last the son 
Buried the father in his head, since other grave was 

none. 500 

Euelpides. 
The father of the lark lies dead, I understand, at Bury- 

head. 

Peithetaerits. 
If then before the gods they were, and earlier than 

the earth, 
Is not the kingdom theirs of right by eldership of 

birth ? 

Ettelpides. 
True, by Apollo ! so resolve henceforth a beak to rear : 
The sceptre soon will Jove restore unto the woodpecker. 



498 (473). Then came, &c. (and then that his father died from disease). 

499 (474). Lay the old bird untombed (he was lying out). 

500 (475). Since other grave was none (perplexed by helplessness). 



rary with Solon and the seven sages. Fables of various countries 
and authors are included in the collections which from ancient 
times have been edited under the now familiar name of Aesop. 

500 (475). " In his head." Theocritus (vil. 23), having in mind 
this fable, calls larks ' tomb-crested.' 

501 (476). " Bury-head ;" lit. at Kephalai (heads), a borough of 
the tribe Akamantis in Attica. 

505 (480). The old reading here gives, 'Jove will not soon 
restore, &c.' If this is right, the nurture of a beak is suggested 
with a belligerent view. Commentators give reasons why the 



48 THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion I. 



Peiihetacrus. 
There's ample proof that birds, not gods, of yore were 

lords of men 5°6 

And kings : first I'll produce the cock, who ruled the 

Persians then, 
Ere aught was of Darius or of Megabazus heard ; 
And still, from that archaic rule, he's called the Persian 

bird. 

Euclpidcs. 

Like the great king he therefore struts, and on his 

head, full-drest, 510 

Alone of all the birds he wears erect the turban-crest. 

Pcitlictacrus. 
So strong was he, so mighty then, so big, that to this 

hour, 
When he his matin alto sings, in memory of that pow'r, 
Smiths, potters, tanners, cordwainers, tradesfolk of every 

guild, 
Cornfactors, bathing men, and such as frame the lyre 

and shield, 5 l S 

507 — 8 (482 — 3). "Who ruled, &c. (who was sovereign and ruler of 
Persians before every Darius and Megabazus). 

woodpecker is selected here: but these seem more fanciful than 
certain. 

508 (484). No king called Megabazus ever reigned in Persia : 
but the name is that of a great family. 

511 (487). "Turban-crest:" Gr. 'kurbasia ;' also called ' tiara.' 
This erect crest was a privilege of the Persian monarch, whom 
Greek writers call 'the great king.' 

5*3 (489). "Matin alto." The Greek means 'song of dawn,' 
but, one letter being removed; it expresses 'an alto strain.' 






Epeisodiox L] THE BIRDS, 49 

Spring up to work : some get them drest, ere night is 

o'er to start. 

Euelpides. 
Ask me to give that evidence: I know it to my 

smart ; 
I lost a cloak of Phrygian wool all through that bird, 

I did: 
For, to a baby's naming-feast being in the city bid, 
I drank a rouse and dozed awhile ; then crew this cock 

ere yet 520 

The rest had supped : I surely thought 'twas morn, and 

off I set 
To Halimus ; but scarce I'd poked my nose beyond the 

wall, 



516 (492). " Get them drest:" lit. i put on their shoes. 1 Kock, 
approved by Meineke, advocates an emendation which gives 
the sense: 'others start in the night to steal cloaks.' But the 
starting in the night seems rather to point to the conduct of Euel- 
pides, here described, than to that of the cloak-marauders. On the 
cock's crowing sometimes at evening, see The Wasps^ v. 100. 

518 (49S). "Phrygian wool." Near Laodikea in Phrygia the 
sheep produced the finest wool. Hence the cloths of Miletus and 
other Asiatic towns were famous. 

519 (499). " Naming-feast:" lit. 'tenth day' The tenth day 
after birth was that on which the child received his name and 
recognition from the father. See v. 322. 

520. " Drank a rouse." Euelpides came from his deme (Hali- 
mus) in the forenoon, and caroused before the evening meal 
(deipnon) which implies a late dinner or early supper. Hence 
becoming drowsy, he went to sleep, and, awakened by an evening 
cock-crow, started home as if morning were at hand. 

522 (496). "Halimus," a deme of the tribe Leontis, thirty- five 
furlongs from Athens, near the harbour of Phaleron. 

4 



gp THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion I. 



A footpad's bludgeon smote my back, I fell and tried 

to bawl : 
But, ere I could so much as moan, my cloak was slipt, 

my robber flown. 

Peithetaerus. 
Ay, and a kite was ruling then the Hellenes, and was 

king. S 2 5 

Chorus. 
The Hellenes? 

Peithetaerus. 

Yes ; and in his reign it first became the thing 
To drop a reverence to the kites. 

Euelpides. 

By Bacchus! 'twas my fate, 
Spying a kite, to make my bow: then, tossing back 

my pate, 
Down the red lane my money went, and I was forc'd 
to drag 



524 (498). But, &c. (but he slipt off my cloak). 528 — 30 (502—3). 
Then, tossing, &c. (and then when throwing my head back I opened my 
mouth, I swallowed down the obol, and so dragged home the bag empty). 

524 (497). The malpractices of cloak-stealing footpads are 
often mentioned. Orestes twice appears in this play as a notorious 
cloak-thief (lopodutes). 

527 (501). "To the kites." The Athenians regarded kites as 
migratory birds (though not such), whose return announced sum- 
mer earlier than that of the swallows. See the first Parabasis. 
Hence it was customary to salute the first seen kite. 

5 2 9 (5°3)- "My money:" lit. 'obol.' To carry small silver 
coins in the mouth seems to have been usual. See The Wasps, v. 
609, 789. Eccles. 818. 






Epeisodion I.] THE BIRDS. 5 1 



Back to my home, all supperless and sad, an empty 
bag. _ 530 

Peithetaeras. 

In Egypt and Phoenike too a cuckoo fill'd the throne ; 

And when the cuckoo cried 'Cuckoo F Phoenicians every 
one 

The wheat and barley in the fields would reap with 
might and main. 

Euelpides. 
Ay truly, thence the saw, ' Cuckoo ! ye cripples, to the 
plain/ 

Peithetaerus. 

So mighty was their sway that if in some Hellenic 
town 535 

A king, as Agamemnon or his brother, wore the 
crown, 

A bird upon their sceptres sat, the many bribes to 
share. 



53 t (504). Fill'd the throne (was king). 

533 (506). Would reap with might and main (would reap). 

536 (509). His brother (Menelaus). Wore the crown (reigned). 



534 (5°7)« "Ye cripples." The allusion here is to the practice 
of circumcision. The proverb resembles one cited by Suidas : ' Out 
of doors, ye Karians, the Anthesteria are ended:' t. e. 6 Go to work; 
the holidays are over.' 

537 (5 IO )« " Upon their sceptres." Herodotus (1. 195) speaks 
of images on sceptres (among them the eagle), as used by the 
Babylonians. In Homer the sceptre is the symbol of kingly power 
and rank. 

"Bribes." To give rich presents to royal persons has been 
a custom prevalent in all ages, especially throughout the East. 



52 THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion I. 

Euelpides. 
Well, this I never heard before : so I could only stare 
When in the tragedies came forth some Priam, bird in 

hand, 
That stood near base Lysikrates, and all his bribery 

scann'd. 54° 

PeitJietaeriLS. 

What strikes me most, the present Zeus a bird, an 

eagle, wears 
Upon his statue's head, as king : an owl his daughter 

bears : 
Apollo has a little hawk, as a mere serving-man. 

Eaelpidcs. 
Right, by Demeter ! and now what's the reason of the 
plan ? 

538 (511). I could only stare (wonder seized me). 
541 (514). The present Zeus (Zeus who now reigns). 
541 — 2 (515). Wears upon his statue's head (stands having on his 
head). 

540 (513). "Lysikrates." No particulars of this person's cor- 
ruption are known, though he is again mentioned by Aristophanes, 
Eccles. 630, 736. 

542, &c. (515, &c). The Greek in this passage would imply 
that not only Zeus, but also Pallas and Apollo, have a bird on the 
head of their statues ; unless by a kind of zeugma, the word ' carries' 
alone is to be supplied as predicate of the two latter deities. The 
passage is difficult. Birds on sceptres are familiar (see Pind. Pyth. 
I. 10. Paus. v. 11): but on the heads of statues we hear of them 
nowhere else : nor does this position seem to favour the seizure of 
entrails offered to ' the hand.' Again, it is hard to understand why- 
Apollo, carrying the hawk, is likened to a ' serving-man.' We can 
solve these difficulties only by saying that here, as indeed throughout 
the discourse of Peithetaerus, comic facts are perhaps invented to 
support a comic logic. 



Epeisodion I.] THE BIRDS. ' 53 

Peithetaerus. 

That, when a sacrificer puts, according to our use, 

The entrails in the hand, these birds may take them 
before Zeus. 546 

No man would then swear by a god, but all men by 
the birds, 

And Lampon still adjures the goose to back his cheat- 
ing words. — 

Once, you see, you were high in place, 

Once a great and a holy race, 550 

Holy and great by all men deem'd, 

549 — 52 (522 — 3). Once, you see, &c. (so great and holy did all 
formerly esteem you, but now on the other hand slaves). 

546 (519). The translation here, "these birds," adopts a con- 
jecture giving the pronoun ' these ' instead of the common reading 
' themselves,' from which it is impossible to extract any good 
meaning. See Note in Appendix. The whole passage still re- 
mains difficult, if any logical sequence is to be looked for. But 
perhaps Aristophanes lets Peithetaerus mystify ' the dull incurious 
lot ' whom he addresses, by shewing a certain connexion between 
birds and deities, which results, somehow or other, in such an ad- 
vantage to the birds, that they are enabled even to feast on dainties 
prepared for the Sire of gods and men. 

548 (521). Lampon was a well-known soothsayer of the time, 
mentioned again at v. 988 and in the Clouds, 332. He signed the 
Treaties with Lakedaemon. See Thuk. v. 19. 

"The goose." Swearing by animals and trees was a curious 
ancient practice, intended, as we are told, to avoid" the irreverent 
mention of deities in ordinary conversation. Besides the goose we 
find the dog, the ram, the plane-tree thus invoked. Becker 
suggests that 'chena,' the goose, was substituted for 'Zena,' Jove. 
Such quasi-reverent substitutions are frequent enough in the par- 
lance of several modern languages, as English, French, German. 



54 ' THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion I. 



- 



b uu 



Now as the merest jacks esteem'd. 

If in their temples you now alight, 

They pelt you like any bedlamite : 

And the cunning fowlers for you set 555 

Snare and springe, twig, trap, gin, cage and net 

Then they catch and sell you by the score, 

And the buyers feel and pinch you sore: 

Till, at last, when comes the sad decree, 

They don't even roast you decently ; 560 

But the grated cheese they first prepare, 

Adding silphium, oil and vinegar, 

And they rub in these with cruel care : 

Then a sauce they heat that's rich and sweet, 

And drench you with it, like dry dog's meat. 565 

Chorus. 
By far, O man, alas! by far Antistrophe. 

These tales of all most cruel are 
Which to mine ears you bring, 
And from me tears you wring 

For those my coward sires, who could 570 
Thus in my babyhood 
— 

559 (53 1 )- When comes the sad decree (if it is resolved to do this). 



552 (523). "Jacks:" Gr. ' Manas.' Manes was an ordinary- 
slave's name. ' 

566, &c. (539, &c.). The Birds regret their lost dominion, and 
desire the counsel of Peithetaerus about the means of recover- 
ing it. 

57i (543)- " In my babyhood." Another reading would express 
6 to my damage.' 







Epeisodion I.] THE BIRDS, 55 

Abandon mighty privileges 

Sent down from old ancestral ages. 

But, as you're come by heaven's decree 

And happy chance a saviour unto me, 575 

My nestlings and myself I give 

In your protectorate to live. 

Forthwith then teach us what to do : since life's not 
worth the name, 

Unless by fair means or by foul our kingdom we re- 
claim. 

Peithetaerus. 

First then I teach that of the birds one city you shall 

found, 580 

And next that all this atmosphere that circles you 

around, 
And all the ways that intervene the earth and sky 

between, 
With huge baked bricks, like Babylon, be walled about 

by you. 

Euripides. 

O Gog and Magog, what a town ! how terrible to view ! 

580, &c. (550, &c). Peithetaerus develops his plan of restitution. 
The Birds must found an aerial city, between earth and heaven, wall 
out the gods, and declare themselves the rulers and benefactors of 
mankind. Euelpides chimes in with a series of ludicrous illustra- 
tions. 

583 (552). The walls of Babylon, built by Semiramis of baked 
bricks, are said by Herodotus to have embraced a circuit of twelve 
geographical miles. 

584 (553). "Gog and Magog:" Gr. 'Kebriones and Porphy- 
ron.' These were two of the giants. 



56 THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion I. 

Peithetaerus. 
When this has gain'd its perfect height, reclaim from 

Zeus the sway: 5^5 

And if he won't knock under straight, but still returns 

a 'Nay/ 
Announce to him a sacred war, and notify the gods 
They must not pass, as heretofore, through your 

august abodes 
A courting of their Semeles, Alkmenas and the rest: 
Such contraband amours shall now most strictly be 

supprest. 590 

To men you'll also send a bird as herald with these 

words : 
< Henceforth, as birds are reigning, you must sacrifice 

to birds, 
And to the gods in second rank : whereto must be 

assign'd 
For every god a proper bird, the fittest you can find. 
Aphrodite's sacrifice crumpets for the coot implies ; 
If a sheep Poseidon gain, wheat-corn let the duck 

obtain ; 596 

Comes for Herakles a treat ? honey-cakes the gull must 

eat ; 
If king Zeus a ram delight, we've our kingbird, who, 

by right, 

587 (556). "A sacred war." The wars concerning the temple 
at Delphi were called by the Greeks ' sacred wars.' Of these the 
earliest is that mentioned in Thuk. I. 112. 

598 (568). "Kingbird," Gr. 'orchilos,' a small wren, so 
called. The smallness of the bird makes the comparison more 
comic. 



Epeisodion L] THE BIRDS. 57 



Zeus himself preceding, can claim a slaughtered gnat 
from man.' 

Euelpides. 

Slaughter'd gnat ! charming that ! let him thunder now, 

great Zan ! 6 00 

Chorus. 

But how shall we to human gaze appear as gods 

instead of jays, 
Flying about and wearing wings ? 

Peithetaenis. 

All nonsense! Hermes flies, 
God as he is ; and wings are worn by countless deities. 
Lo, Victory soars on golden wings, and Eros too, by 

Jove, 
And Hera likewise, Homer says, went like a trembling 
dove. 605 

And, when it thunders, does not Zeus the winged 
lightning on us loose ? 

Chorus. 
But if mere cyphers we shall seem to unenlightened 

men, 
Olympians only count as gods ? 

Peithetaenis. 

A cloud of sparrows then 

600 (570). " Zan." The old Doric form for Zeus. 

605 (575). "Hera." The common reading here gives 'Iris.' 
But the passage alluded to in the Iliad (v. 778) mentions Hera and 
Athene as 'moving like trembling doves.' Iris however, with 
Eileithuia, is cited with the same description in the Homeric 
Hymns (i. 114). Possibly therefore the reading 'Irin' may be 
right. 



58 THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion I. 

And grain-devourers off the land shall all their seed- 
corn eat ; 

Then let Demeter, when they starve, dole out to them 
her wheat. 610 

Euelpides. 

She never will, so help me Zeus ! you'll see her making 
some excuse. 

Peithetaerus. 

Again the ravens may tear out, if thus it must be tried, 

The eyes of all their ploughing kine and all their sheep 
beside : 

Then let Apollo heal, if he's as rich in science as in 
fees. 

Euelpides. 

Pray, till I've sold my little team of bullocks twain, 
don't try the scheme. 615 

Peitketaerus. 

But, if they deem you god, you life, you earth, you 

Kronos, you 
Poseidon, they shall have all goods. 

Chorus. 

Just mention one or two, 



u. 



610 (580). "Dole out:" as rich people to the poor in times of 
dearth. Demeter (Ceres), the goddess of corn and harvest. 

612 (583). " If thus it must be tried." So Kock. Or possibly, 
' This is worth being tried.' 

614 (584). Lit. 'Let Apollo heal, being a physician: he takes 
fees.^ Apollo was a healing as well as a prophetic deity. His 
'taking fees' is an allusion to the great wealth and rich ornaments 
presented or deposited in his temples. 



Epeisodiox I.] THE BIRDS. 59 

Pcitlictaerns. 

First, locusts shall not feed upon their vine-shoots: but 
this pest 

Shall by a single troop of owls and falcons be 
supprest : 

Next, on their figs at no time shall the nits and mag- 
gots prey ; 620 

One flight of thrushes shall pick out and clear them 

all away. 

Chorus. 

But wealth, which men so dearly love, whence are we 

to bestow ? 

Pcitlictaerus. 

When they consult, these birds to them the paying 

mines will shew, 
And all the profitable marts they'll mention to the 

seer, 
So that no captain will be lost. 

Chorus. 
None lost ? Let that appear. 625. 

Peithetaerus. 

When about sailing men consult, some bird will still 

explain, 
1 Don't sail at present, there'll be storm : sail now, 'tis 

certain gain/ 



623 (593). "Consult:" i.e. the oracles. Cobet's conjecture 
(<ta men alia' for ' ta metalla') removes the mention of mines, 
supplying this sense : ' to men when they consult, these birds, be- 
sides giving all good things, will also mention,' &c. This is highly 
ingenious, but cannot be regarded as certainly true. 



60 THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion I. 

Euelpides. 
A bark I buy, command a crew : I won't stay daw- 
dling here with you. 

Peithetaerus. 
They'll shew them too the hidden coins which men of 

old laid down : 
They know them all : a saying 'tis familiar to the 
town : — 630 

My treasure, where it lies interr'd, none knows, unless 
it be some bird. 

Euelpides. 
I sell my bark, a spade I buy, and grubbing up the 

gutters try. 

Chorus. 

But how are we to give them Health, which with the 

gods doth dwell ? 

Peithetaerus. 
Good Fortune — is not that good Health ? 



Li j 



Euelpides. 

Yes, all the world can tell, 
When a man's doing very ill, he can't be very well. 

Chorus. 
But how shall they attain old age, a pure Olympian 
privilege ? 636 

Must they decease in childhood ? 

6 35 (605). "Doing ill." This literally renders the Greek 
phrase, which, like the English, ordinarily means l unfortunate/ ' in 
bad circumstances,' and yet is ambiguous enough to support the 
intended play of words. 



Epeisodion L] THE BIRDS. 6 1 

Pcitlietaerus. 

No, by Jove! dismiss your fears: 
They'll get a bonus from the birds of full three hun- 
dred years. 

Chorus. 

Who'll give them to the birds ? 

PcitJictacriLS. 
Who give ? themselves : why, don't you know, 
i Five generations of mankind exists the chattering 
crow ' ? 640 

Euelpides. 
Hurrah ! hurrah ! better by far 
Than Zeus for us these bird-kings are. 

Peithetaerus. 

True indeed : for there'll be no need 

Temples of stone for these to rear: 

Golden doors will be useless gear; 645 

Under the holms and holly trees 

They'll be hopping and dwelling at ease: 

Place for the statelier birds we'll find 

In the boughs of an olive shrined. 

Unto Delphi or Ammon's fane 650 

Carrying victims will be vain : 



637—8 (607—8). No, by Jove, &c. (no, by Jove ! but the birds will 
add to them three hundred years more). 



640 (609). This line is from Hesiod, Op. et D. 747. 
650 (619). "Ammon's fane." The temple of Jupiter Ammon 
/ was in Egypt. 



62 THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion I. 



If in arbute and olive shade 

Plates of barley and wheat be laid, 

Stretching our hands we'll ask in pray'r 

Of their blessings an ample share: 655 

All we seek we are sure to gain 

Just for tossing a little grain. 

Chorus. 
Old man, of late my bitterest foe, but now my dearest 

friend, 
Your guidance will I nevermore forsake unto the end. 
Elated by your words I swear, 660 

And threateningly declare, 
If you will covenant on your part 
With just, sincere, religious heart, 
To march against the gods, with me 
Allied in perfect harmony, 665 

Not very long the powers divine 
Shall grasp the sceptre that is mine. 
All the work, where strength is needed, be to us 

assign'd, 
While to you shall be committed all requiring mind. 

Hoopoe. 
Now, let me tell you, there's no further time 670 



658 — 9 (626 — 7). Old man, &c. (far dearest to me of old men, becoming 
so from the most odious, it cannot be that I shall ever again wilfully depart 
from your opinion). 



658 (626), &c. The Birds gratefully accept the counsel of 
Peithetaerus, and desire his alliance in * a war against the gods.' 
670 (638), &c. The hoopoe invites the Athenians to enter his 



Epeisodion L] THE BIRDS. 6 



o 



To nod and shilly-shally, Nikias-like ; 
But something must be done forthwith. First enter 
And view my nest, my straws and stock of firewood: 
And let us know your names. 

Peithetaerus. 

An easy matter. 
My name is Peithetaerus, and my friends 675 

Euelpides of Krio. 

Hoopoe. 
Welcome both. 

Peithetaerus. 
We thank you. 

Hoopoe. 

Enter in then. 

Peitlictaeras. 

Certainly. 
Pray take and introduce us. 

Hoopoe. 

Forward, then. 

Peithetaerus. 
Yet something strikes me : just come back awhile, 

dwelling, and inquires their names. He promises to supply them 
with a certain root, by eating which they will acquire wings. 

671 (639). "Shilly-shally, Nikias-like." This is expressed by 
one Greek word, coined for the occasion. The allusion is to the 
general character of Nikias, but especially to the hesitating scruples 
and difficulties raised by him in the Athenian assembly to impede 
the Sicilian expedition. See Thuk. vi. 25. 

676 (645). Krio or Krioa was a deme of the tribe Antiochis. 

679 (648). " Something strikes me." This renders the very 



64 THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion I. 

Let's see: please tell us, how will he and I, 680 

Non-flyers, live on terms with you that fly ? 

Hoopoe. 
Quite well. 

Peiihetaerus. 

Nay, pause awhile. In Aesop's fables 
There is an ancient story of the fox, 
How bad a lodger once it found the eagle. 

Hoopoe. 
Pluck up your spirits: there's a certain root, 685 

Which when you've eaten, you'll at once have wings. 

Peithetaerus. 
Then let us enter in. Ho, Xanthias 
And Manodorus, take the baggage up. 

Chorus. 

Sir, with you a word or two ! 

Hoopoe. 

What ? 

Chorus. 

Let these men lunch with you 

Bravely: but the musical, most melodious nightingale 

Summon forth, and let her stay here awhile, with us 

to play. 691 

peculiar Greek phrase (to deina) in the sense which is found to 
belong to it in use. 

683 (652). " The fox." The fox in the fable/ whose hole was 
at the foot of the tree, could not pursue the eagle which carried 
off her cubs to its eyrie at the summit. 

689 (658). The Chorus of Birds request the hoopoe to call 
the nightingale out of the brake, and leave her with them to sing 



Epeisodion I.] THE BIRDS. 65 

Peithetaerus. 
Pray, Sir, refuse not : speak a friendly word, 
And from the rushbrake fetch the little bird. 

Euripides. 
Yes, bring her hither : let our suit prevail, 
That we too may behold the nightingale. 695 

Hoopoe. 
If both desire, I must : out, Prokne dear, 
And be presented to the strangers here. 

The Nightingale enters from the bush. 

Peithetaerus. 
Wide-honour'd Zeus ! a charming birdie this, 
So beautiful, so fair, so tender 'tis, 
And wearing heaps of gold, like some young Miss. 700 

Euelpides. 
I want to kiss her. 

Peithetaerus. 

That's a maddish freak : 
She's got a pair of scissors for a beak. 

Euelpides. 
But from her noddle I could peel the shell, 
As from an egg, and kiss her very well. 



and play, while he entertains the Athenians at luncheon. The 
visitors, desiring to see her, second the motion. Prokne comes 
out, drest as a female fluteplayer, with a mouthpiece and many 
golden ornaments, exciting the admiration of the two friends. 
They retire into the bush with the hoopoe, who now disappears 
from the action of the play, Peithetaerus having accepted the 
future presidency of the feathered commonwealth. 

703 (673). " Peel the shell :" i. e. 6 take off the mouthpiece.' 

5 



66 



THE BIRDS. [Parabasis I. 



Hoopoe. 
Come, let's be moving. 

Peithetaerus. 

Lead the way, my friend, 705 
And may good fortune still our steps attend. 

[Exeunt Hoopoe, Peithetaerus, Euelpides, and Slaves. 

[The Chorus chant or intone the first Parabasis. 
(Konunation) 

O my ownie, O my brownie, 
Bird of birds the dearest, 
Voice that mingling with my lays 

Ever was the clearest, 7 10 

Playmate of my early days, 

Still to me the nearest, 



707-819 ^676-800). Here follows the first Parabasis, or central 
portion of the old Greek Comedy, in which the Chorus wheels 
round towards the spectators, and addresses to them a chant or 
rather a series of chants, complete in this Comedy. First comes the 
'kommation,' or short lyric introduction, here a vernal greeting to 
the nightingale, who, as a flutist, is invited to perform a symphony. 
After this follows the Parabasis proper, usually in the long anapaes- 
tic measure, the subject having some relation to the plot of the 
piece often to the author himself. It concludes with a shorter 
anapaestic system, called 'makron' or 'pnigos,' which see at v. 762 
(723). Then follows an < ode' of a poetic character, and a recitative 
of (usually) sixteen burlesque verses, called 'epirrhema.' To these 
correspond severally the 'antode' and ' antepirrhema,' concluding 
the whole Parabasis. This play has a second Parabasis at v. 1 127 
(1058), which consists only of ode and epirrhema, with antod, 
and antepirrhema. 



Parabasis L] THE BIRDS. 6 J 

Nightingale, thus again 

Do I meet thee, do I greet thee, 

Bringing to me thy sweet strain? * 715 

Skilfullest of artists thou 
To soft trillings of the flute 
Vernal melodies to suit, 

Our homily demands thy prelude now. 

[The NigJitingale plays a fiat e symphony. 
{Parabasis proper}} 
Ho ! ye men dim-lived by nature, closest to the leaves 

in feature, 720 

Feeble beings, clay-create, shadowy tribes inanimate, 
Wingless mortals, in a day, doleful, dreamlike, swept 

away ; 
Note the lessons that we give, we the immortals form'd 

to live, 
We the ethereal, the unaged, with undying plans engaged : 

719 (684). "Our homily :* lit. 'anapaests? The translation is 
not anapaestic, but trochaic : an anapaestic version being added 
in the appendix. This Parabasis is an evident parody of the 
mythic genealogies in the Orphic Hymns, which were dressed 
up to please the popular ear in the lectures of the rhetorical 
sophists. It appears from v. 728 (692) that Aristophanes in this 
Ornithogony specially ridicules the lectures of Prodikus. That 
sophist, a native of the isle of Keos, taught at Athens for about 
forty years. He applied himself especially to the critical distinc- 
tion of words, and to mythic and allegorical narration. His 
chief work was entitled Horae, and in it was contained the Choice 
of Herakles, that famous apologue quoted by Xenophon in his 
Memorabilia of Sokrates, II. 1. 21, and called by Cicero, ' Hercules 
Prodiceus.' 

720 (685). "The leaves:" an allusion to Horn. II. VI. 146: 
'such as the race of leaves is that of men.' 

5—2 



68 THE BIRDS, [Parabasis I. 

That, when ye have heard aright all our lore of highest 

flight, 725 

Birds and what their true creation, gods and what 

their generation, 
All the rivers running through Erebus and Chaos too, 
Ye may cry. well train'd by us, 'What care we for 

Prodikus?' 
Chaos was and Night of yore in the time all times 

before, 
And black Erebus beside Tartarus extending wide. 
Earth, Air, Heaven were yet unknown, in huge Erebus 

alone 73 1 

First, our oldest legend says, black -wing'd Night a 

wind-egg lays ; 
Which, as circling seasons move, brings to birth the 

charmer Love, 
Bright with golden wings behind, semblant to the whirl- 
ing wind. 
In the vast Tartarean shade him the dull dark Chaos 

made 735 

Sire of us : we nestled there till we saw the light of 

air. 
Race immortal there was none till Love's sorcery was 

begun : 
But, when all things mixed in motion, rose the sky, 

the earth, the ocean, 
And the blessed gods were made, everlasting, unde- 

cay'd. 
Thus of all the blessed we far the oldest claim to be; 
And that we are sons of Love many facts agree to 

prove : 741 



Parabasis I.] THE BIRDS. 69 

Still we fly our daily round, still with lovers we are 

found : 
Cruel hearts w T ill oft relent if a pretty bird is sent ; 
And a quail, or goose, or dove, wins the victory for 

Love. 
Of the goods with which they're blest mortals get from 

birds the best. 745 

First, of seasons, winter, spring, summer, we the tokens 

bring. 
Men must sow, when shrieks the crane seeking Libya's 

coast again ; 
That's the time, each captain knows, to hang up the 

helm and doze : 
Then Orestes must not lack cloak well-woven for his 

back, 
Lest with cold the robber freeze and another's garment 

seize. 750 

Next the kite appears, and brings a new season on 

his wings, 
When the flock you must release from its vernal load 

of fleece. 
Then the swallow comes to tell time is come the cloak 

to sell, 
And, for wear while days are hot, buy the slender 

paletot. 
We are Amnion's shrine to you, Delphi and Dodona 

too, 75 5 



749 (712). "Orestes :" the footpad and cloak-robber; see v. 523 

(497). 



70 THE BIRDS. [Parabasis I. 



Phoebus' self: to birds you turn first, whatever you 

would learn, 
How to choose a mart, a trade, or a marriageable 

maid. 
The decisive omens all known in seercraft, birds you 

call; 
Bird an oracle of fate, bird a sneeze you designate : 
Sign that's seen or voice that's heard, lacquey, donkey, 

'tis a bird. 760 

We're Apollo then, 'tis clear ; we're your only Pythian 

seer. 
So then, if for gods you take us, 
And your trusted muse-seers make us, 
Gentle breezes we will send you ; 

Pleasant seasons shall attend you ; 765 

Moderate heat when summer's nearest, 
Moderate cold when winter's drearest : 
We'll not sulk, and sit beclouded 
High in Jove-like grandeur shrouded; 
But, in lower ether gliding, 770 

Near your mansions still abiding, 
We will give to all your nations, 
Through their latest generations, 



758 (719). "Birds you call." Ancient superstition divined the 
future (1) from the flight and cries of birds (augury), (2) from voices 
and oracles, (3) from wayside objects and occurrences (sumbola), 
(4) from observation of sacrifices. See Xen. Mem. I. I. 3, Aesch. 
Prom. 485, Theophr. Char. 25, Hor. C. III. 27. Any omen was 
familiarly called <a bird:' whence the comic poet in this place 
draws his witticism. 



ParabasisL] THE BIRDS. 71 



Life that's healthy, peace that's wealthy, 
Youth-enhancing feast and dancing, 775 

And, with laughter, bird's milk after. 
All shall say, ' 'Tis really cloying:' 
Such the bliss you'll be enjoying. 

(Ode.) 

Muse of the woodland glade, 

Tio, tio, tio, tio, tio, tio, tiotix, 780 

Harmonist, whom tending oft 
In glens or on the mountain tops aloft, 

Tio, tio, tio, tiotix, 
Perch'd in an ash-tree's leafy shade, 

Tio, tio, tio, tiotix, 785 

Through my brown bill to Pan I raise 
Melodious strains of holy praise, 
And to the mountain Mother solemn choral lays. 

Totototototototototix. 



776 (734). " Bird's milk," which here crowns the list of blessings 
promised by the Birds, is often jocularly cited as a fabulous dainty. 
So Plin. N. H. Praef. 'Vel lactis gallinacei sperare haustum.' 
The translator recollects from early days the practical joke of send- 
ing a child to buy a pennyworth of 'pigeon's milk.' 

779 (737)- The choric odes of comedy are often imitations of 
those in tragedy, fragments of which are here and there borrowed 
and interwoven, so as to form an amusing parody of a style so 
familiar to the Athenian public from the annual tragic contests. 
This purpose is obvious enough in this ode; but still more so 
in the antode at v. 809 (769). The lyrics of the old tragic poet 
Phrynichus were always popular (see The Wasps, v. 220, 269), 
and are probably parodied here by Aristophanes. See v. 790 (75°)- 

788 (746). "The mountain Mother:" i.e. the goddess Kybele, 
great Mother of the Gods, worshipped in the mountains and woods 



72 THE BIRDS. [Parabasis I. 

Whence, beelike, Phrynichus his soul did fill 790 

With fruit of melodies ambrosial, still 
Carolling lyrics at his own sweet will. 

(Epirrhema) 
Sirs, if any of your throng to the bird-club will belong, 
We can offer him a home full of bliss for years to come. 
What your laws entitle base, what you visit with dis- 
grace, 795 
We the birds commend and deem worthy of our high 

esteem. 
Here by law 'tis very bad if a youngster beats his dad : 
There with us 'tis usual rather, even grand, to cuff a 

father, 
Strutting up and crying, f Sir, if you'll fight me, lift 
your spur.' 799 

Any of you that has been branded for a runaway, 
As a speckled francolin may with us securely stay. 
Any half-caste Spintharus, from the land of bamboos, 
Blackbird will be call'd by us, cousin of our Sambos. 



of Phrygia, and constantly associated with Pan, as in Pind. Pyth. 
ill. 7 8, Fragm. 71. 

793 (753)> & c - Come to us birds, says the Chorus in the epir- 
rhema, all ye Athenians who find your own laws and customs too 
strict and too moral; we will give you a hearty welcome and all 
the licence you can wish. The Chorus, when addressing the 
spectators, localizes itself among them : here means at Athens, 
there means in Bird-land: while in the scenic parts the converse 
is true. 

800 (760). Runaway slaves were often branded when taken. 

802 (762). Spintharus was a poor tragic poet, represented 
here as of mixed blood. Lit. If any one is a Phrygian (barbarian) 
like Spintharus, he shall be a c ' fihrugilos* (unknown bird), of 



Parabasis I.] THE BIRDS. 73 

If, like Exekestides, some vile Karian slave conies out, 
Pappies he can fledge with ease there, and wardsmen 

soon will sprout. 805 

To the outlaws would some day Peisias' son the gates 

betray ? 
He, true nestling of his sire, partridge-rank can there 

acquire : 
Sneaking out we reckon fair, partridge-fashion, from 

the snare. 



Philemon's family (unknown).' Liberty has been taken to make 
the half-caste a mulatto, the bird a blackbird, and Philemon 
Sambo. If the comic poet may dare anything for the sake of 
humour, his translator must occasionally dare something, lest the 
humour evaporate altogether. 

804 — 5 (764 — 5). Lit. If any one is a Karian slave, as Exekestides 
(see v. 11), let him fledge ' pappoV with us, and 'phrateres' will 
appear. 'Pappos' means a grandsire, and also the down on the 
seeds of certain flowers, as the dandelion. The 'phrateres' are the 
members of the ward or ' phratria,' to whom a child was presented 
by his father, in order to be registered in their list as an Athenian 
citizen. In this place the 'pappoi' represent the downy pin- 
feathers of a young bird, and the 'phrateres' represent the plumes 
or full-grown feathers. What is conveyed by the whole passage 
is : that a spurious claimant of the suffrage, producing a crop of 
ancestors, will find wardsmen lax enough to enroll him on their 
list. 

806 (766). The son of Peisias is one Meles, a musician 
(kitharodos), father of the dithyrambic poet Kinesias, afterwards 
introduced. Of the treasons here imputed to Meles and Peisias 
there is no other record. The outlaws probably mean those who 
fled on account of the prosecution of the Hermokopidae. The par- 
tridge is said by Aristotle and Pliny to draw the fowler away from 
its nest by pretending lameness (hence the verb used) ; but this is 
rather true of the lapwing. An allusion is supposed to the wavering 
policy of Perdikkas king of Makedonia. 



74 THE BIRDS. [Parabasis I. 



(Antode.) 

So swans in olden tide, 

Tio, tio, tio, tio, tio, tio, tiotix, 810 

Did their trilling pinions poise 
And chant Apollo with commingling noise, 

Tio, tio, tio, tiotix, 
Perch'd on a knoll by Hebrus' side, 

Tio, tio, tio, tiotix. 815 

Came through the airy cloud a cry, 
The dappled wild-beasts crouching lie, 
And sinks the billowy sea beneath the windless sky. 

Totototototototototix. 
Olympus echoed to his utmost bound, 820 

Amazement seiz'd the kings, and far around 
Each Grace and Muse Olympian swell'd the sound. 

Tio, tio, tio, tiotix. 

{A ntepirrhema.) 
Of all joys and blessings none beats the having feathers 

on. 
One of you spectators may, wearing wings at any 

play, 825 

Get at last a peckish feel, and desire a quiet meal : 
Home he'll fly, just take a snack, then, . with belly 

full, fly back. 
Any other small affair, wanting only speed and care, 
Flying helps you to get through quietly and quickly too. 
Flying oft with full success crowns a lover's happiness. 

824 — 39 (785—800). Wings, says the Chorus, are the most 
handy things imaginable. Comic instances of their convenience 
are adduced. Some of the lines here are not literally translated. 



ParabasisI] THE BIRDS. 75 

If he spies his rival here in the senatorial tier, 831 

He can spread his wings and fly, love-directed, through 
the sky, 

Keep his happy tryst, and then fly into his seat again. 

Isn't it then the best of things to possess a pair of 
wings ? 

In Dieitrephes we find proof enough for any mind : 

Osier wings were all his claim, yet a captain he be- 
came 836 

By his tribesmen duly voted, thence to higher grade 
promoted ; 



831 (794). " The senatorial tier." The Senate (boule) of 500 
had special seats in the theatre. 

835 — 9 (798 — 800). Lit. ' since Dieitrephes, having osier wings 
only, was clwsen plinlarcJi, then hipparch, and so from being 
nobody lie has a great fortune, and is now a brown horsecock.'' 
This person had become rich by the manufacture of wicker wine- 
flasks, called here ' osier wings.' He was elected first one of the 
ten phularchs (captains of the cavalry of the ten tribes), then one 
of the two hipparchs (colonels of cavalry), whence he is jestingly 
called Horsecock. ' Horse' in compounds implies bigness; and 
this term, taken from Aeschylus, is again cited in The Frogs, v. 932 — 
7, where it is explained as a figure-head of a ship. The simile is 
meant to describe a tall strutting officer of cavalry in brown uniform ; 
and, from v. 1530 (1442), we also find that this Dieitrephes was 
fond of horse-driving. Elmsley receives the form Dieitrephes from 
an ancient marble. Probably he is the same Diitrephes who lost 
his life in the following year, B.C. 413. He escorted back to Thrace 
a body of mercenaries who arrived too late to sail with Demo- 
sthenes to Syracuse. These barbarians landed in Boeotia, captured 
the town of Mykalessus, and massacred the inhabitants ; but were 
then defeated and pursued to their ships with great slaughter by 
the Thebans ; Diitrephes himself receiving a mortal wound. See 
Thuk. VII. 29 ; Grote's Hist. II. lxi. 



THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion II. 



Now he gives himself grand airs, once the roughest of 

the roughs, 
And the title that he bears, Colonel Horsecock of the 

Buffs. 



Enter Peithetaerus and Euelpides as birds. 

Peithetaerus. 
So far so good. No, never, on my word, 840 

I never saw a creature more absurd. 

Euelpides. 
What are you laughing at ? 

Peithetaerus. 

Oh, don't you know ? 
Those pin-feathers of yours amuse me so. 
Such metamorphosis your wings produce, 
You're very like a cheaply-painted goose. 845 

Euelpides. 
You've limn'd my likeness : yours is quite as droll, 
A blackbird stript of feathers round the poll. 



842 — 3 (803 — 4). Oh, &c. (at your pinfeathers : do you know what 
you are most like, having wings?) 

846 — 7 (805). You've, &c. (and you to a blackbird plucked about the 
poll). 



840 (801), &c. The two Athenians reenter, wearing grotesque 
birdmasks and plumage. After mutual banter they proceed to 
discuss, with the Chorus, the name and arrangements of the new 
city. Here begins the Second Episode. 



Epeisodion IL] THE BIRDS. 77 

PeitJietaerus. 
These likenesses Ave get — the poet sings — 
Wrought of none other, but by our own wings. 

Chorus, 

What's the next business ? 

PeitJietaerus. 

We are bound to frame, 
First thing of all, a great and glorious name 851 

For our new city. Sacrifice is due, 
Next, to the powers divine. 

Euelpides. 

I think so too. 

Chorus. 
What title for our city shall we choose ? 

PeitJietaerus. 
That which the folk at Lakedaemon use, 855 

That big one, Sparta, would you give it ? 



848 — 9 (807 — 8). " The poet :" Aeschylus, who in a lost play, cites 
a Libyan fable of the eagle shot by an arrow feathered from its 
own wing. In the second line the words are those of Aeschylus. 
Peithetaerus jestingly means: 'these wings which enable us thus 
to banter each other, are of our own growing (by virtue of the root), 
not borrowed from any bird.' 

854 (811), &c. The speeches here ascribed to Euelpides 
are those which seem to suit his character best. Holden assigns 
to the Chorus that in which a cloudy title is recommended: but 
it is noticeable that Peithetaerus replies with a verb in the second 
person singular, whereas he replied to the Chorus with the cor- 
responding plural in v. 856 (813). 



78 THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion II. 



Etielpides. 

Fie! 

Take for my city Sparta ? No, not I : 

The meanest pallet never should receive 

So poor a fitting, while I'd girths to give. 

Peithetaerus. 

What must we call it then ? 






Etielpides. 

From this new home, 
These nebulous altitudes in which we roam, 86 1 

Some vaunting title take to suit it pat. 

Peithetaerus. 

Cloudcuckooborough, — what dye say to that ? 

Chorus. 

Bravo ! bravo ! invention's quite your forte ; 

A very noble name and — not too short. 865 



856 — 9(814 — 16). Fie... give (Herakles! should I join Sparte to my 
city? no not to a pallet bed, if I had any girths). 

860 — 3 (817 — 19). From this new home... that (from hence, from the 
clouds and elevated places, some very boastful one. Will you have 
Cloudcuckooborough?) 

865 (820). A very, &c. (the name you've invented is downright beautiful 
and large). 



857 (815). A plant called 'sparton' (a kind of broom) was used 
to make a cheap bed-rope, called ' Sparte/ here jestingly con- 
founded with the city of the same name. 

863 (818). "Cloudcuckooborough:" Gr. 'Nephelokokkygia.' A 
city built on clouds and inhabited by cuckoos (regarded as vain 
birds) represents a mere unreality, a ' castle in the air;' 



Epeisodion IL] THE BIRDS. 79 



Euelpides. 
Is this the same Cloudcuckooborough, pray, 
In which Theogenes has stowed away 
Most of his wealth, and Aeschines his all ? 

PcitlietaeriLS. 
Or, haply, Phlegra's plain 'twill best recall, 
Where gods outshot the boastful giant foes 870 

With louder-boasting braggadocios. 

Euelpides. 
A smartish city this ! But who shall dwell, 
As guardian godhead, in the citadel ? 



869—71 (823 — 5). Or, haply, &c. (and best of all indeed the plain of 
Phlegra, where the gods outshot the giants in vain-boasting). 



867 (822). "Theogenes" was a man of some note at Athens. 
We find him in commission with Kleon at Sphakteria, see Thuk. 
iv. 27; and afterwards signing the treaties of peace: see Thuk. 
v. 19. 24. After the date of this play he was engaged in an embassy 
to the great king, and became one of the Thirty, B.C. 404. The 
comic poets ridicule him as a pompous pretender, and as uncleanly. 
See The Peace, v. 928. 

868 (823). This "Aeschines," who was called 'the son of Sellus' 
(Sellus being a cant name for an ostentatious beggar), became 
one of the Thirty, and was sent on an embassy to Lakedaemon. 
See Xen. Hell it. 3. 13. The wealth of Theogenes and Aeschines, 
having no real existence, is aptly placed in Cloudcuckooborough. 

869 (824). The plain of "Phlegra," on which the fabulous 
battle was fought between the gods and giants, was assigned to 
various localities in Pallene, Asia, Italy, &c. Aristophanes places 
it, as an unreal legend, in the region of Cloudcuckooborough. 
It was a battle, he comically says, in which the victory was gained 
by those who ' drew the longest bow.' 

873 (827). As the citadel of Athens (called Akropolis or Polis) 
had for its presiding deity Pallas Athenaea or Athene, with the 



8o THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion II. 



For whom the broidered mantle ? 

Peitlietaeras. 

Can't we still 
Let Athenaea keep the sacred hill ? 875 

Euelpides. 
A wisely-ordered state can any be, 
Where stands in highest shrine a deity 
Female of sex, who, clad in armour, sees, 
With shuttle in his hand, a Kleisthenes ? 

Peitlictacrus. 
To guard the Storkwall whom shall we engage ? 880 



874 — 5 (828). Can't we still, &c. (why leave we not Athenaea citadel- 
keeper?) 

877 — 9 (830 — 1). Where stands... hand (where a deity, being woman, 
stands having a panoply, and Kleisthenes a shuttle?) 



title Polias, Euelpides asks who shall preside in the citadel of 
Cloudcuckooborough? for whom shall a mantle (peplos) be woven 
like the splendidly embroidered robe carried in procession at the 
Panathenaea or great feast of Pallas Polias? Peithetaerus, as if for- 
getting he is not at Athens, suggests that Athenaea should remain in 
charge of the citadel. This leads up to the jest of Euelpides, who 
asks how a city can be well-conditioned, in which a goddess stands 
(sculptured by Pheidias) in full armour, while a man, Kleisthenes, 
is of such effeminate habits, that a shuttle is his most appropriate 
symbol. On this Kleisthenes, an unmanly noble, see The Knights, 
v. 1374: The Clouds, v. 355: Thesmophor. v. 574, &c. 

880 (832). "Storkwall:" Gr. 'Pelargic' (from 'pelargos,' a stork; 
or ' Pelasgic wall.' Aristophanes prefers the former name, which con- 
nects it with the birds. See again v. 922 (869). This wall, partly 
ruined in the Persian war, flanked the Athenian Akropolis, and is 
comically transferred to the Bird-citadel. 



Epeisodion II.] THE BIRDS. 8 1 



Chorus. 
A bird of ours of Persian parentage, 
Whose fear-awakening fame resounds afar, 
The gallant chicken of the god of war, 

Euelpides. 
O my lord Chicken ! ay, 'tis chosen well ; 
No god is fitter upon rocks to dwell. 885 

Peitlietaerus. 
Now you start off, ascend the upper air, 
And lend a hand to help the masons there : 
Pass on the lime, to mix the mortar strip, 
Carry the hod up, from the ladder slip ; 
Appoint the watch, the fire still hidden keep, ' 890 
Run round the beat with bell, there fall asleep. 
Despatch one herald to the gods on high, 
To men beneath another from the sky ; 
For me returning bid him ask. 

Euelpides. 

I see ; 
You mean to rest here ; rest and hang — for me. 895 

883 (835). "God of war." Lukian reports a legend that a 
youth, placed as sentinel by the war-god Ares, neglected his duty, 
and was changed into a cock, a bird of martial aspect and temper. 
The cock is said to be a fear-awakening name everywhere, because, 
by his crowing, he compels many people to leave their beds un- 
willingly : and he is fit to dwell on rocks, as a sentinel whose 
signals should be heard as far as possible. 

886 (837), Euelpides, whose blunt comic criticisms are no longer 
needed, is now dismissed, and does not reappear. The directions 
given to him by Peithetaerus mix the ludicrous with the serious. 

894—5 (845—6). As if offended by some of the directions, 
Euelpides, instead of saying 'good bye/ says 'stay and be hanged 

6 



82 THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion II. 

Peithetaerus. 
Go on your mission, friend : without you none 
Of all the things I mention will be done. 

[Exit Eticlpides. 
Now must we hold a solemn sacrifice 
In honour of the new-made deities; 
And I will fetch a priest to range the show. 900 

Lads, lift the basket and the ewer. So. 

[Exit Peithetaerus. 

: Chorus. 

I say so too : I vote with you, Strophe. 

Yes, and add one counsel due: 
To- the gods devout profession 
Let us make in grand procession, 905 

And, to win their favour, bring 
A nice sheep as offering. 
Utter forth, utter high 
To the god a Pythian cry ; 
And let Chaeris to our lay 910 

Flauto obligato play. 

A Fluteplayer, wearing the mask of a raven with a 
mouthpiece, enters and begins to play. 

for me,' parodying the 'for me' used in another sense by Peithe- 
taerus. 

899 (848). "The new-made deities." See v. 594 (564). 

902 (851). While Peithetaerus is away, the Chorus chant a 
short Chorikon (of which the Antistrophe is at v. 945 (895)), and 
call in a fluteplayer. 

910 (858). "Chaeris," ridiculed by Aristophanes as a bad flute- 
player. See Acham. 16. 866. 

915 (861). "Mouthpiece," Gr. 'phorbeia.' This was a kind of 



Epeisodion II.] THE BIRDS. 83 



Enter Peithetaerus with a Priest. 
Peithetaerus. 
A truce there to your puffing ! Herakles ! 
What creature's this? Will marvels never cease? 
Full many a wondrous sight I've seen, but none 
To match a raven with a mouthpiece on. 915 

Your office now begins; initiate, priest, 
To the new gods our sacrificial feast. 

Priest. 

I'll do the solemn duty, since you ask it: 
But where is he that bears the sacred basket ? 

Let us pray to Hestia birdqueen of flame ; and to 
the holy Kite that guards the same — 921 

leathern respirator fastened round his jaws by the flute-player to 
moderate the effusion of his breath in playing. 

920 — 39 (865 — 86). In this passage the style and dialect of the 
ancient Ionic liturgies are parodied, and their prose form kept. 
The new bird-deities are comically associated with the old; but 
to Hestia (Vesta) the first cited, no bird-name is assigned. She 
could not be omitted, being the goddess of the hearth, who main- 
tained the holy fire in house, ward-room, and townhall. The kite 
takes the place of the hearth-keeping Zeus. The swan represents 
Apollo of Delphi and Delos, the ' ortugometra' (mother-quail) Lato; 
the goldfinch (akalanthis) is Artemis; the 'phrugilos' is the mys- 
terious Sabazian Dionysus of Phrygia; the sparrow (or ostrich?) 
is the Great Mother Kybele. To these are joined a number of 
hero-birds, some with known names, others unrecognizable, for 
which English titles are adopted. See Thesmoph. v. 331. The 
arguments used by Kock to prove that the interjected remarks 
belong to the Chorus, not to Peithetaerus, are hardly strong enough 
to remove the improbability that the poet would, in any part ex- 
cept the Parabasis, ascribe to the Birds so intimate a knowledge of 
Athenian manners and customs as these remarks contain. 

6 — 2 



84 THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion II. 



Peithetaerus. 
Hail, Sunium-worshipp'd Hawk; hail, royal Stork. 

Priest. 

and to the Pythian and Delian Swan ; and to Lato, 
Mother-quail, and Artemis the Goldfinch — 924 

Peithetaerus. 
Now no more Kolaenis, she Goldfinch Artemis will be. 

Priest. 
and to the Redstart Sabazian, and to the Sparrow, 
mighty Mother of gods and men — 

Peithetaerus. 

O lady Kybele, be good to us, O Sparrow, Mother of 
Kleokritus. 



922 (869). Kock justly observes that, before this verse, some 
words of the liturgy must have been lost, in which Poseidon 
(Neptune) was addressed, as (the hawk) adored at Sunium, and 
as sea-king. This verse evidently refers to Poseidon, one of whose 
titles was 'Souniaratos, adored at Sunium,' the southern promon- 
tory of Attika, where he had a temple : another was t Pelagikos, 
god of the sea.' The former of these is here made 'Sounierakos, 
Sunian hawk,' the latter 'Pelargikos (anax), stork-king.' 

925 (871). "Kolaenis," an ancient and mysterious title of 
Artemis. 

928 (875). " Sparrow." Kock is probably right in saying that 
Kybele is jocularly called ' sparrow' rather than 'ostrich.' The 
joke is heightened by contrast with her title ' Great Mother.' 

928 (877). "Kleokritus." This person is mentioned again in 
The Frogs, v. 1437, but not so as to determine whether he was 
very large (as the Scholiast there represents) or the reverse ; we 
must suppose the latter if Kybele is called 'sparrow,' not 'ostrich.' 



Epeisodion II.] THE BIRDS. 85 

Priest. 
and to Olympian birds and lady-birds all, with united 
prayer we call, that to Cloudcuckooburgesses they grant 
health and wealth and all they want, themselves and 
their alliance, especially the Chians — 932 

Peithetaerits. 
That's delicious, I declare: Chians tack'd on everywhere! 

Priest. 
and to each hero-bird and hero's son, and to pelican 
and porphyrion ; and to heathcock and blackcock, and 
peacock ; and to gannet, and heron, and grosbeak, and 
shrike, and screechowl ; and to blackcap, and titmouse, 
and earlytrumpetfowl — 

Peilhctaertts. 
A plague on all this nonsense ! cease to bawl. 
Ho, ho! w r hat victim's this to which you call 940 

Ospreys and vultures, dolt ? a single kite, 
D'ye see, could swoop and carry off this mite. 
Clear out from us, and take your wreaths away : 
I'll make this sacrifice myself to day. 

[Exit Priest 

Chortcs. 
So now again a second strain Antistrophe. 

I must raise and not refrain : 94-6 



932 (879). "The Chians." The Chians, before the Sicilian defeat, 
were the most faithful allies of Athens, and received the honour 
of being specially mentioned in Athenian liturgies. 

939—44 (889—894). Peithetaerus, tired by the recital of so 
many names, and finding the victim to be a small lean goat, dis- 
misses the priest. 



86 THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion II. 



While they bear the sacred lotion, 

I must set my songs in motion, 

And to this our solemn rite 

All the blessed gods invite : 950 

No, not all ; one alone, 

If indeed there's meat for one. 

In the victim standing by 

Only beard and horns I spy. 954 

Pcithctaeriis. 
Let us pray and sacrifice to the feather'd deities. 

Enter Poet. 
Poet. 
Of Cloudcuckooborough's city 
Celebrate the happy state, 
O my Muse, in hymned ditty. 

Peithetaerus. 
What importation's this? say who you are. 

955 (9°3)> & c - Peithetaerus, preparing to sacrifice, is inter- 
rupted by a succession of applicants, who propose to settle them- 
selves in the new city. First comes a poet, celebrating the city in lyric 
verse ; then a soothsayer, with oracles : then Meton, the geometer, 
who offers his services as surveyor ; next an inspector with a com- 
mission from Athens : finally a vender of plebiscites. The poet 
receives contemptuous alms; the others are dismissed with more 
or less severity. Then (as bloodshed on the stage was inadmis- 
sible) Peithetaerus removes the goat for sacrifice elsewhere, and 
leaves the Chorus to chant a second Parabasis. 

956 (904), &c* The poet parodies (often, no doubt, using the 
original words) an ode addressed by Pindar to Hiero king of 
Syracuse, on occasion of the foundation of the city of Aetna. 



Epeisodion II.] THE BIRDS. 87 

Poet. 

One who honey-voiced song produces, 960 

A holy menial of the Muses : 
Such is the title Homer uses. 

Peithet aencs. 
A slave are you, yet keep your flowing hair? 

Poet. 
No ; but every one that song produces 
Is a holy menial of the Muses ; 965 

Such is the title Homer uses. 

Peithetaerus. 

Your blouse too 's holy ; to your trade you owe it : 
But what the mischief brings you here, Sir poet? 

Poet. 
Fine odes IVe made and many, to renown 
In song Cloudcuckooborough, your new town, 970 
Some Cyclian, others Parthenean, 
Others in style Simonidean. 



961 (909). "Holy menial:" lit. 'diligent servant? The word 
' holy' is substituted in the translation, to keep up the joke in v. 
967 (915), which the Greek word for ' diligent' favours. In Homer's 
extant poems ' diligent servant' often occurs, but not with the case 
'of the Muses' added. 

963 (91 1). "Hair." Slaves had their hair dipt. The poet had 
called himself 'a menial of the Muses.' 

971 (918). "Cyclian:" i.e. dithyrambic. 

972 (919). "Parthenean:" i.e. to be sung by a chorus of virgins. 
"Simonidean:" Simonides of Keos had written much lyric and 
elegiac poetry. He died B.C. 469. 



88 THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion II. 

Peithetaerus. 
When did you set about this song-inditing? 

Poet, 
Long on this city, long have I been writing. 

PeitJietacrns. 
What? haven't I held its name-feast now, you gaby, 
And called it for the first time, like a baby ? 976 

Poet. 
By the Muses tidings swift are carried; 
Swifter than the glancing force 
Of the lightning-footed horse 

Came the news, and never tarried. 980 

But, O sacred-titled lord, 
Founder and sire of Aetna's state, 
What thy bounty can afford, 
Be it little, be it great, 

With a generous soul incline 985 

To bestow on mine from thine. 

Peithetaerus. 
This plaguy wretch will worry us, I see, 
If we don't shut his mouth up with a fee. 
You've got a jerkin there, come, strip, bestow it 
Upon my very learned friend the poet. 990 

[To one of the slaves. 



973 (920). When did you, &c. (when did you make these? from what 
distance of time?) 

977 — 9 (924 — 5). By the Muses... tarried (but a swift one is the rumour 
of the Muses, such as the glancing speed of horses). 

988 (932). If we, &c. (if we shall not escape by giving him some- 
thing). 

9 8 9 (933)« A jerkin (a jerkin and a tunic). 



Epeisodion IL] THE BIRDS. 89 

There, poet, take this jerkin for your meed ; 
Your shivering plainly shews it what you need. 

Poet 

Glad the friendly Muse receiveth 

What the gracious donor giveth; 

Yet expand your mental ear, 995 

And a verse of Pindar hear. 

Peithetaerus. 

We shan't get quit of him just yet, 'tis clear. 

Poet. 
In the nomad Skythian's plain 
Wanders ever, cold and lonely, 

Straton with a jerkin only ; IOCO 

Jerkin only, 'tis notorious, 
Without tunic is inglorious. 
Duly comprehend the strain. 

PcitJictacrus. 
You want the tunic : that I comprehend. 
Come, strip : one must assist a poet friend, 1005 

[To tlie slave. 
There, take it and be off. 

Poet. 

I go: yet stay, 
The city must receive this parting lay. 
Seated on thy golden throne, 



992 (935). Your shivering, &c. (you certainly seem to me to shiver). 

993—996 (937—40). Glad— hear (this gift the friendly Muse receives 
not unwilling ; but thou with thy heart learn a verse of Pindar). 

998—1000 (941—3). In the, &c. (among the nomad Skytlnans wanders 
Straton who hath not acquired a woven wind-tossed vestment). 



90 THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion II. 

Muse, prepare a noble ditty 

For the quivering, shivering city. IOIO 

To the snow-propelling zone, 
The many-path'd, I hied awa', 
Tralalala ! 

PcitJictacrns. 
But now the tunic's on your back, my friend, 
Of quivering and of shivering there's an end. 1015 

[Exit Poet. 
I can't conceive how to this rascal went 
Such early notice of our settlement. 
Boy, carry round again the laver. So. 
Silence ! 

Enter a Soothsayer. 
Soothsayer. 

Commence not on the goat. 

Peithetaerus. 

Hilloa! 
What's here? 

Soothsayer. 

A soothsayer. 

PeitJietaerns. 

Bad luck be thine ! 1020 

Soothsayer. 
Cast not contempt, great Sir, on things divine : 
Here is an oracle of Bakis : see : 
It fits Cloudcuckooborough perfectly. 






1022 (962). "Bakis." An ancient soothsayer of Boeotia. See 
Holden's Oiiomastikon. 



Epeisodiox II.] THE BIRDS. 91 



Pcithetaerus. 
Then, ere I coloniz'd this city, why 
Came you not here, and sang your prophecy? 1025 

Soothsayer. 
The spirit hindered then. 

Pcitlietaerus. 

Well, well! rehearse: 
There's no great harm in listening to your verse. 

Soothsayer. 

4 But when the wolves and hoary crows unite 

To build 'twixt Sikyon and great Korinth's height' — 

Pcitlietaerus. 
And with Korinthians what concern have I ? 1030 

1027 (966). "Verse." Oracles were composed in the heroic 
rhythm of Homer. They usually commence with 'but/ being 
supposed to be extracts from a continuous collection of the Laws 
of Fate, like the Sibylline Books at Rome. Many such collections 
were preserved, private as well as public, bearing the names of 
ancient soothsayers such as Bakis. And those who retailed and 
recited these pretended oracles took the title of soothsayers like 
the personage here introduced by Aristophanes. See The Peace, v. 
1052. 

1028(967). "Wolves and crows:" i.e. men and birds; beings 
of widely different natures. 

1029(968). "Sikyon and great Korinth's height." The land 
'between Korinth and Sikyon' is mentioned in an ancient oracle 
cited by Athenaeus and Eustathius, as fertile (according to the 
latter author). Orneae (Birdtown, see v. 409) was on the confines 
of Sikyonia, but not on the road between Korinth and Sikyon. 

1030(969). The "Korinthians" were bitter enemies of the 
Athenians, and excited the allies to declare war against them, B.C. 
431. See Thuk. 1. 



92 THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion II. 

Soothsayer. 
This hint of Bakis indicates the sky. 
'Bid first in honour of Pandora bleed 
A white-fleec'd ram : and then, as fitting meed 
For the first prophet who my songs shall bear, 
A goodly coat and sandals new prepare.' 1035 

PeWictacrus. 
They're in it too, the sandals ? 

Soothsayer. 

Take the book. 
And, furthermore, the prophecy commands 
'To give a cup, and fill with tripe his hands/ 

PcitJictacriis. 
And giving tripe is in it ? 

Soothsayer. 

Take the book. 
i And if thou doest my bidding, reverend Childe, 1040 
An eagle in the clouds shalt thou be styled : 
But if thou giv'st not, never shalt thou prove 
Throstle or woodpecker or turtledove.' 

Peithetaerits. 
And is all this included ? 

Soothsayer. 

Take the book. 

1032 (971). "Pandora;" i.e. 'the all-giving goddess/ naturally 
invoked by the begging soothsayer. 



Epeisodion II.] THE BIRDS. 



93 






PcitJietaerus. 
Your oracle is not like this of mine, 1045 

Which I got copied from Apollo's shrine. 
1 But when some swindler, uninvited there, 
Disturbs the sacrifice, and tripe would share, 
Let well-belabour'd ribs be all his fare.' 

Soothsayer. 
I think you're talking nonsense. 

PcitJietaerus. 

Take the book. 1050 
'Nor spare e'en eagle in the clouds, though he 
Or Lampon or great Diopeithes be.' 
Out, vermin, out ! [Beats him. 

Soothsayer. 
Alack and welladay ! 
PcitJietaerus. 
Get out, and soothsay somewhere else: away! 

[Exit SootJisayer. 

Enter METON. 

Meton. 
I'm come to join you. 

1045 (981). Peithetaerus ' trumps' the pretended oracle of Bakis 
with an oracle of Apollo, the god of prophecy; and expels the 
soothsayer ignominiously. 

1052 (988). "Lampon:" see v. 548 (521). "Diopeithes;" 
another notorious soothsayer of the time, who pretended to divine 
inspiration. See Holden's Onomr. also The Knights, v. 1085; Xen. 
Hell. in. 3. He seems to have lived to a great age. 

1055 (992). "Meton:" the famous mathematician and geo- 
meter, who invented a new calendar (the cycle of Meton). He 



94 THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion II. 

Peithetaerus. 

Here's another pest. 1055 

What are you come for? what's the ideal thought, 
What the design, the boot, of this your journey? 

Melon. 
I want to measure geometrically 
Your atmosphere, and map it out in acres. 

Peithetaerus. 
And, in heaven's name, who are you ? 

Melon. 

Meton I, 1060 

To Hellas and Kolonus known. 

Peithetaerus. 

And these, 
What are they ? 

Melon. 

Rules for measuring the atmosphere. 
For instance, all the atmosphere in shape 
Is like a stove, as near as can be : so 
When I my lineal fix, and from above 
Insert a pair of flexile compasses — 
You comprehend ? 

Peithetaerus. 
I do not comprehend. 



resided in the Kolonus Agoraeus, near the Stoa Poekile: and is 
said to have erected there an astronomical instrument. See 
Holden's Ono?n. } which cites Leake's Topography of Athens, p. 219. 






Epeisodion II.] THE BIRDS. 95 

Meton. 

A straight rule I apply to measure with, 

That so your circle may become quadrangular, 

With market-place i' the middle, whither lead 1070 

Straight roads converging to the very centre : 

And thus, as from a star, being circular, 

Straight rays may flash their light in all directions. 

Peithetaerus. 

The man's a second Thales. Meton — 

Meton. 

Well ? 1074 



Peithetaerus. 

I'm your good friend, believe me; take my counsel, 
And move, without disturbance, out o' the way. 

Meton. 

What danger is there ? 

Peithetaerus. 

As in Lakedaemon, 
Aliens are banish'd, feelings are excited, 
And many stripes are stirring through the city. 

Meton. 
Is discord raging here ? 

Peithetaerus. 

No, not at all. 1080 



1078 (1013). "Aliens are banish'd." The allusion is to the laws 
of Lakedaemon, by which foreigners were not allowed to reside 
there. In the latter part of this verse the conjecture of Kock is 
adopted: "feelings are excited." 






96 THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion II. 

Meton. 

What is the matter then ? 

Peithetaerus. 

In perfect concord 
We are resolved to kick out every humbug. 

Meton. 

I must be gone then. 

Peithetaerus. 

Yes : I'm not quite sure 

You've time : here are the stripes, impending now. 

[Beats him. 
Meton. 

Me miserable ! 

Peithetaerus. 

Did'nt I give you warning? 1085 

Remeasure yourself and be off elsewhere. 

[Exit Meton. 

Enter an Inspector. 

Inspector. 
Where are the consuls ? 

Peithetaerus. 

Who's this dainty don ? 

1087 (102 1). The person who now enters professes to be an 
inspector elected at Athens by lottery of beans to visit Cloudcuckoo- 
borough in that character. Such inspectors were sent out to 
subject states with a certain authority analogous to that of modern 
' governors.' Those employed by the Lakedaemonians were called 
'harmostai.' "The consuls," Gr. 'proxenoi/ This office corre- 
sponded very nearly to that of those who are now called ' consuls/ 
that is, residents in a foreign city, whose duty it is to provide there 



Epeisodion II.] THE BIRDS. 97 



Inspector, 
I'm an inspector by the bean elected 
To this Cloudcuckooborough. 

Peithetaerits. 

An inspector? 
Who sent you here ? 

Inspector. 

A certain trumpery warrant 1090 
Of Teleas. 

Peithetaerus. 

Will you take your salary then, 

Not bore us, but be gone ? 

Inspector. 

With all my heart. 
I wish'd to stay at home and sit in parliament : 
Some foreign business I have done with Pharnakes. 

Peithetaerus. 

Take it and go then. That's your salary. 1095 

[Beats him. 

for the interests and requirements of the state which employs them. 
Anciently they were citizens of the place itself in which they were 
employed : in modern times very rarely so. 

u Dainty don ;" lit. i Sardanapalus] the luxurious king of Assyria. 
The presumptuous affectation of the inspector's dress and manner 
procures for him this title. 
, 1091 (1025). "Teleas:" see v. 180(168). 

1093 (1027). "To sit in parliament : " lit. Ho attend the Ekklesza' 
or Assembly of all Athenian citizens, in which great public affairs 
were discussed and determined. 

1094(1028). "Pharnakes;" the Persian satrap of Daskylitis 
in Asia. At this time the support of the Persian power began to 
be zealously sought by both the contending Hellenic parties. 

7 



98 THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion II. 

Inspector. 
What's this? 

Peithetaerus. 
A sitting of the house on Pharnakes. 

Inspector. 
I call you all to witness I am beaten, 
I, an inspector. 

Peithetaerus. 

Shoo ! shoo ! wo'nt you scud, 
And take your brace of ballot-boxes with you ? 

[Exit Inspector. 
Now is not this a scandal? To our city noo 

Already they are sending out inspectors 
Before our sacrifices are performed. 

Enter a Plebiscite-vender. 

Plebiscite-vender. 
'If any Cloudcuckooburgess wrong an Athenian — ■ 

Peithetaerus. 
What plague again is here ? what manuscript ? 



I 



1099 (1032). The inspector had brought with him two ballot- 
urns, for the purpose of holding elections and official lotteries in 
the new city. 

1 103 (1035). The last intruder is a "vender of plebiscites," Gr. 
6 of psephisms.' A psephism was a decree of the Assembly, for 
which, though not having all legal formality, the force of law was 
claimed. Aristotle {Pol. IV. 4) and Cicero {Rep. I. 27) notice this 
as an extreme form of democracy, carried out by demagogues. As 
such decrees became numerous, copies of them were made and sold 
for use at home and abroad. Such is the trade of the personage 
who now appears. He calls his psephisms 'new laws.' 



Epeisodiox II.] THE BIRDS, 



99 



Plebiscite-vender. 
Vender of plebiscites am I; new laws II0S 

I'm come amongst you here to sell. 

Peithetaems. 

Sell what? 

Plebiscite-vender. 

'For Cloudcuckooburgesses we decree that all the 

measures and weights shall be the same as those of 

Poland.' IIQ9 

PeWietaerus. 
Yours soon shall be the same as those of Woland. 

[Beats him. 
Plebiscite- vender. 
Sir, what do you mean ? 

PeitJietaerns. 

Go, take away your laws. 
I'll sharpen them for you to-day, those laws. 

[Exit Plebiscite-vender. 



1108 (1041). "As those of Poland:" lit. c as those of the Olo- 
fthyxians? Olophyxus was a colony on the Thracian coast near 
Mount Athos. 

iiio(io42\ "As those of Woland:" lit. e as those of the 
Ototyxians? The jeu de mots here is imitated by using the name 
Poland for 'Olophyxians,' and Woland for 'Ototyxians,' which 
latter is a mere comically invented word, having no local existence. 
As Olophyxus resembles a Greek verb meaning to bewail, so 
Ototyxus is designed to recall another verb, which means to cry 
or howl. 

LcfC. 7 _ 3 



IOO THE BIRDS, [Epeisodion II. 

Inspector [from the side]. 
I summon Peithetaerus for assault, to appear at the 
April sessions without default. 

Peithetaerus. 

Oh, really, you're amongst us, are you, still? 1115 

Plebiscite-vender [from the side], 
' If any shall drive out the magistrates, and not receive 
them, as the column states — ' 

Peithetaerus. 

O cruel fate ! and you're amongst us still ? 

Inspector [from the side], 

I'll ruin you in damages, I will. 

I'll lay them at ten thousand drachmas, Sir. 1120 

Peithetaerus. 
I'll scatter to the winds your ballot-boxes. 

Plebiscite-vender [from the side]. 
Your insult to the column once at even, 
Remember that. 

Peithetaerus. 
Faugh, faugh ! let some one seize him. 
Oh, you won't tarry, won't you ?— From this place 
Let us as soon as possible go in 1125 

And sacrifice unto the gods the goat. 

[Exeunt all but Chorus. 



1117(1050). "The column". Columns were erected in public 
places, on which were engraven the terms of treaties between 
contracting states. 



Parabasis II.] THE BIRDS. IOI 



Chorus, 
(Ode). 
Through the coming ages now Strophe. 

With the sacrifice and vow 
Mortals shall to me be praying, 

Me the allseeing and allswaying, n . 

Me whose active sight extends 
To the earth's extremest ends. 
I preserve the blooming fruit, 
Slaying every noxious brute: 

Such as with rapacious jaw u^r 

Under ground the rootlets gnaw ; 
Such as, lurking in the boughs, 
On the budding fruitage browze : 
I destroy the loathsome swarm 

That with foul pollution harm 1140 

All the garden's fragrant charm : 
Biting creatures, creatures crawling, 
Bleed beneath my pinions sprawling. 

{Epirrhema). 
Specially, however, it is notified to-day, 
Melian Diagoras if any of you slay, 1145 

1127(1058). The second Parabasis here begins. It has no 
kommation, and no anapaestic address or parabasis in the narrower 
sense. The ode asserts the divine nature and influence now be- 
longing to the Birds. The epirrhema is a ludicrous 'hue and 
cry' after various offenders against their dignity. The antode 
is an exquisite poetic description of the joys of birdlife. The 
antepirrhema pretends to win the favour of the judges by promises 
and threats of a highly comic character. 

1 145 (1073). "Melian Diagoras." Diagoras of Melos had 
been (about ten years before the date of this play) obliged to 



102 THE BIRDS. [Parabasis II. 

Your reward's a talent ; and a talent for the head 
Shall be paid of any of the tyrants that are dead. 
Also we do thus declare our high and mighty will : — 
Sparrower Philokrates if any of you kill, 
You will get a talent; if alive he's taken, four; 1150 
For he strings and sells the finches at a groat a score, 
Blows the fieldfares out and shews 'em with insulting 

grin, 
To the nozzles of the blackbirds sticks the feathers in ; 
Pigeons that he catches in his cages all are set, 11 54 
And must be decoy-birds for him, fastened in a net. 
Thus do we proclaim. And if by any of you men 
Birds are kept in aviaries, let them loose again. 
Our police shall seize you, if this warning you defy, 
And in penal servitude decoying men you'll lie. 

[Antode). 

Happy are the feathered folk, 11 60 

Who in winter wear no cloak ; 

1 151 (1079). At a groat a score (at the rate of seven for an obol). 

fly from Athens to escape a capital charge of impiety and atheism. 
A price was set on him, but the people of Pellene, where he found 
refuge, would not give him up. As he is here ludicrously coupled 
with the dead tyrants, he was probably no longer alive, and 
Grote (11. lviii.) must be considered wrong in assigning theprosecu- 
tion against him to the year B.C. 415. In The Clouds, v. 830, 
Sokrates is called 'the Melian/ that is 'the atheist/ in allusion to 
this Diagoras. See also The F?vgs, v. 320. 

As in this passage the poet unquestionably glances at the 
measures taken against the suspected Hermokopidae, it throws 
important light on his political feeling at the time when this play 
was written. See Introduction. 

1 149 (1077). "Philokrates. 55 See v. 14. 



Parabasis IL] THE BIRDS. IOl 



And the summer does not burn us 

With its hot far-flashing furnace : 

But in flowery meads I dwell, 

Lingering oft in leafy dell, n6q 

When the inspired cicala's gladness, 

Swelling into sunny madness, 

Filleth all the fervid noon 

With its shrill and ceaseless tune. 

But throughout the wintry day 1170 

In some hollow cave I stay 

With the mountain nymphs at play. 

Myrtle-berries, spring-bedew'd, 

White and tender, are my food, 

And a thousand delicacies 1 175 

From the gardens of the Graces. 

{Aiitcpirrlicmd). 
On the victory I wish a word or two to say, 
How the judges all will gain by voting for our play, 
Getting better gifts than those of Paris far away. 

1 179 (1104). "Paris:" Gr. 'Alexander,' (son of Priam,) called 
by both these names. When he was chosen to adjudge the golden 
apple, as prize of beauty, to one of the three competing goddesses 
(Hera, Pallas, Aphrodite), he was promised various gifts by each on 
condition of deciding in favour of the promiser. So the Birds jocu- 
larly promise the judges various good things if they vote the first 
prize to this Comedy. These are (1) Laureotic owls, that is, plenty 
of money ; coins, made from the silver of the mines of Laurium, or 
Laureium, in Attika, bearing the image of an owl: (2) pinnacles to 
the roofs of their houses shaped in the so-called eagZestylz (aetomata) : 
(3) assistance from a hawk in the work of peculation: (4) the loan 
of craws to eat good dinners with. On the other hand, if the votes 
are refused, they threaten to spoil the best clothes of the recalci- 



104 THE BIRDS. [ParabasisIL 

First — for more than anything each judge has this at 

heart — 1 1 80 

Never shall the Laureotic owls from you depart, 
But shall in your houses dwell, and in your purses too 
Nestle close, and hatch a brood of little coins for 

you. 
Furthermore we'll let you live in temples like the gods, 
Eagle-fashion'd pinnacles adorning your abodes. 1 1 85 
If, in some poor office plac'd, to pilfering you incline, 
We will lend a small sharp hawk to favour your 

design ; 
Craws too we will send you when you're going out to 

dine. 
But, if you reject us, then let each a little shed 
Forge, like lunes o'er statues, as a shelter for his head ; 
Lest, without it when you walk in clean and white 

attire, 1191 

All the birds their vengeance take by covering you 

with mire. 



Enter Peithetaerus. 

Peithetaerus. 

Our sacrifices, Birds, are favourable: 
But from the works no messenger arrives 






trant judges. These inducements were not irresistible, as Aris- 
tophanes obtained only the second prize in this competition. 

1190(1114). "Lunes:" Gr. 'meniskoi,' semicircular tin sheds 
erected over statues in the open air, to protect them from the 
weather and from defilement. 

1193 — 1248 (11 18 — 67). Peithetaerus, having sacrificed the goat 
with favourable omens, returns, expecting a report from the builders. 



Epeisodion III.] THE BIRDS. 105 

To tell us how the business there goes on. 1195 

\ here comes one at last, and running too 
And panting in the true Alphean style. 

Enter First Messenger. 
First Messenger. 
Where, where is— where, where, where is— where is he, 
The archon Peithetaerus ? 

Peitlietaerns. 
He is here. 

First Messenger. 
Your wall is finish'd. 

Peitlietaerns. 
Thanks for your good tidings. 

First Messenger. 
A very noble and magnificent structure. 1201 

•So vast the breadth is, that upon the top 
Proxenides of Bracrham and Theorenes 

o o 



A messenger arrives, and gives a comic narrative of the manner 
in which the works have been executed by the birds, who have 
put forth all that strength of which they boasted in v. 668 (637). 

1 197 (1121). "Panting in the true Alphean style:" lit. 'breath- 
ing AlpJicus /' i.e. 'panting like a tired foot-racer at Olympia/ 
where the river Alpheus skirted the raceground. 

1203(1126). "Theogeires" has been before cited as a poor 
braggart who pretended to be richer than he was. See v. 867 
(822; : he appears again v. 1376 (1295). "Proxenides" is one of the 
same stamp, a 'kapnos' or 'man of smoke.' Aristophanes invents 
for him a new deme, 'Kompasai,' i.e. 'Bragham.' 






106 THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion III. 

Could drive two passing chariots clear, with steeds 
Big as the wooden one of old. 

Peithetaerus. 

Great Herakles ! 1205 

First Messenger. 
The height (I measured it myself) is just 
A hundred fathoms. 

Peithetaerus. 

What a height, Poseidon ! 
Who built it up to such enormous size ?. 

First Messenger. 
Birds and none else : no bricklayer of Aegypt, 
No stonehewer was there, no carpenter: 12 10 

With their own hands they did it, to my marvel. 
There came from Libya thirty thousand cranes, 
All having swallowed down foundation stones, 
Which with their beaks the rails still aptly shaped : 
Another party of ten thousand storks 12 15 

Were brickmakers : and water from below 
The plovers and the other wading birds 
Were raising up into the higher air. 



1205 (1128). "Wooden one:" i.e. the wooden horse by which 
Troy was taken. See Verg. Aen. II. 

1 2 13 (1137). "Foundation stones." The Greeks had a false 
notion that cranes carried stones as ballast to steady their flight. 

1214(1138). "The rails." The true English title of the bird 
here ('krex') is uncertain, but it corresponds in some respects to 
'the rail' (rallus). - 



Epeisodion III.] THE BIRDS. 107 

Peithetaerus. 

And who conveyed the mortar for them? 

First Messenger. 

Herons, 
In hods. 

Peithetaerus. 
And how did they get in the mortar? 1220 

First Messenger. 
That was the cleverest device of all, Sir. 
The geese with their web-feet, as though with spades, 
Dipp'd down, and laid it neatly on the hods. 

Peithetaerus. 

What feat indeed may not be wrought by feet ? 

First Messenger. 
Ay, and the ducks, by Jove, all tightly girt, 1225 

Kept carrying bricks, and other birds were flying 
With trowel on their heads, to lay the bricks... 
And then, like children sucking lollipops, 
The swallows minced the mortar in their mouths. 

Peithetaerus. 
Why should one hire paid labourers any more? 1230 



1224 (1147). "Feet:" jocularly substituted by Aristophanes 
for * hands,' which is the original word in the proverb cited. 

1228 — 29 (1149 — 51). There is a loss here of one and a half, 
or two and a half Greek lines, so that we cannot say what birds 
they were that took the trowels and laid the bricks. The words 
in italics are inserted to supply the probable sense. The preparation 
of the mud by the swallows is evidently likened to the sucking of 
sweetmeats by children, though verb and object are lost. 



108 THE BIRDS, [Epeisodion III. 

Well now, what next ? who were the birds that wrought 
The woodwork of the fort ? 

First Messenger. 

Skill'd carpenters, 
The yellow-hammers : with their hammering beaks 
They finish'd off the gates : the noise they made 
In hammering was exactly like a shipyard. 1235 

The fortress has its portals firmly fitted, 
Supplied with bolts and bars, and guarded round : 
The beats are paced : the bell is borne : the watch 
At every point established, and the beacons 
Set on the towers. — But I must run away 1240 

And clean myself. Look you, Sir, to the rest. 

[Exit First Messenger. 

Chorus. 
Sir, what's the matter with you ? do you marvel 
The fortress has been finish'd with such speed ? 

Peithetaerics. 
Ay, by the gods : a wondrous work it is : 

1233 (1155). "Yellow-hammers." The birds here named by- 
Aristophanes are ' pelicans/ chosen merely for the play of sound 
between that bird's name and the verb 'pelekan,' 'to hew in shape.' 
The translation substitutes a different bird for a similar purpose. 

1238 (1160). "The bell." This was borne by the sentinel in 
his rounds to shew that he was not asleep. See v. 891 (842). 

1242 (1164). Peithetaerus remains for a while wrapt in medita- 
tion, till addressed by the Chorus. This device, with their short 
dialogue (says Dindorf ), gives the actor (tritagonist) who plays the 
part of Messenger time to alter his dress, and appear again as one 
of the guards. 

1245 (1167). It is hardly necessary to call attention to the 
exquisite humour of this verse. 



Epeisodiox III.] THE BIRDS. 109 



In very truth it looks to me like fiction. 1245 

But wait a moment : here's a messenger, 
One of the guards from thence, who's running to us 
With face as martial as a pyrrhich-dance. 

Second Messenger. 
What ho ! what ho ! what ho ! what ho ! what ho ! 

Peithetaerus. 
Well, what's the matter? 

Second Messenger. 

Very shameful treatment! 1250 
One of those gods from Zeus's place just now 
Flew through our gates into the atmosphere, 
All unobserved of our day-scouts, the jays. 

Peithetaerus. 
O shameful deed and unendurable ! 
Which of the gods ? 

Second Messenger. 

We know not. Wings it had, 1255 

We know. 

Peithetaerus. 

Your course then, surely, was to launch 

Some yeomanry upon its track. 

1 248 ( 1 1 69). Lit. ' looking a fiyrrhicli-dance? This famous war- 
dance, imitating martial gestures, is said to take its name from 
the inventor. 

1249(1170). The guard enters to announce the appearance 
and pursuit of Iris the rainbow-goddess. 

1257(1177). "Yeomanry:" Gr. 'peripoloi.' These were young 
men after the age of eighteen, a sort of 'landwehr' force, enlisted 
to watch and protect the Attic frontiers. 



IIO THE BIRDS, [Epeisodion III. 

Second Messenger. 

We did: 
Our mounted archers, thirty thousand hawks, 
We sent, all riding with their claws acrook, 
Falcon and buzzard, vulture, nightjar, eagle: 1260 

Hark ! with the rush and whirring of their wings 
All ether shudders, as they seek the god. 
Far off it cannot be : indeed I think 
'Tis here already. 

Peithetaerus. 

Must we not get slings 1264 

And bows and arrows ? Henchmen all, look out : 
Shoot, smite : supply me, some one, with a sling. 

[Exit PeitJietaerus with Secoiid Messenger. 

Chorus. 

War is rising, war surprising, Strophe. 

War between the gods and me ; 

So let every watchbird see 

That this, the child of Erebus, 1270 

1267 (1189), &c. Peithetaerus here quits the stage to assist 
in the pursuit of Iris. Meanwhile the Chorus chants a first Chori- 
kon (Strophe), inspiriting the Bird-troops to their ' sacred war' : 
after which Iris appears flying, by means of machinery, across 
the scene. Peithetaerus rushes in, pursuing her ; and by a concealed 
ledge she is able to pause and sustain the dialogue with him, at the 
close of which the machine wafts her away again. That dialogue 
itself sparkles with admirable humour ; and the parody of tragic 
style scattered through it must have greatly amused an Athenian 
audience, whose ears and minds were, by the annual Dionysiac 
contests, thoroughly trained to perceive and appreciate the tone of 
a Sophokles or Euripides. On the treatment which the gods receive 
here and afterwards see the Introduction. 



Epeisodion III.] THE BIRDS. 1 1 1 



Our cloud-encircled atmosphere, 

Be guarded strictly, far and near, 

Lest any god should pass unseen of us. 

Look out, look out, each careful scout, around, about. 

Some daemon's whirling through the lofty sky: 1275 

E'en now the winged sound approaches nigh. 

Iris appears flying across the scene. 

1 y eithetaerus re-entering. 

Ho, madam, whither, whither, whither flying ? 
Stay quiet there ; be still ; restrain your course. 
Who and what arc you ? Whence arrived ? declare. 

Iris. 
I'm from the realm of the Olympian gods. 1280 

Peithetaerus. 

And what are we to call you ? bark or bonnet ? 

Iris. 
Swift Iris. 

Pcithctacrns. 

Paralus or Salaminia ? 



1281(1203). "Bark or bonnet." The grotesque apparel of Iris 
suggests this strange question. Wearing a huge loose robe floating 
behind her person she recalls the image of a ship in full sail. 
Having on her head a 'kune' or Arcadian bonnet-hat with wide 
brims for protection from the sun (see Soph. Oed. C. v. 314) and 
perhaps painted with rainbow colours, Peithetaerus gives her that 
title as an alternative. 

1282 (1204). "Swift Iris." Peithetaerus-, pretending to infer 
from this answer that she is a vessel, humorously asks if she 
is one or other of the Athenian state galleys, Paralus or Salaminia. 
See v. 155 (147). 






112 THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion III. 

Iris. 
What means this ? 

Peithetaerus. 
Won't some buzzard soar and seize her ? 

Iris. 
Seize me ? What mischiefs here ? 

Peithetaerus. 

We'll make you smart 
Iris. 
All this is monstrous folly. 

PeitJietaerns. 

By what gate 1285 

Came you within the fort, you shameless jade ? 

Iris. 
I have no notion, really, by w r hat gate. 

Peithetaerus. 
You hear how she prevaricates. Did you 
Appear before the jay-chiefs ? Won't you answer ? 
Have you a passport from the storks ? 

Iris. 

What stuff's this ? 129c 

Peithetaerus. 
You've got none ? 

Iris. 
Are you sane ? 



Epeisodion III.] THE BIRDS. 1 1 -> 



Peithetaerus. 

Did no bird-captain 
Attend and set a label on your person? 

Iris. 
None set a label on my person, wretch. 

Peithet aeries. 
And would you with such silent secrecy 
Fly through a foreign city and through Chaos ? 1295. 

Iris. 
And by what other road are gods to fly ? 

Peithetaerus. 

I have no notion, really; not by this. 
You're guilty, let me tell you : long ere now 
You ought to have been seized and put to death, 
No Iris in the world with greater justice, 1300 

If you'd got your deserts. 

Iris. 

But I'm immortal. 

Peithetaerus. 
You should have died in spite of that. Our case 
Will be a cruel one, methinks, if, whilst 
We're ruling all the rest, you gods alone 
Take every kind of license, not yet knowing 1305 
That you in your turn must obey your betters. 
But tell me, whither do you steer your wings ? 

Iris. 
What, I ? I'm flying on my father's errand, 
To bid men offer to the Olympian gods, 

8 






1 14 THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion III. 

And on their bullock-sacrificing hearths 13 10 

To slaughter sheep, and fill the streets with savour. 

Peithetaerus. 
What's this you're saying ? Offer to what gods ? 

Iris. 
What gods ? to us, the gods that are in heaven. 

Peithetaerus. 
Are you then gods ? 

Iris. 
What other gods exist ? 

Peithetaerus. 

Birds unto men are gods: to them must men 13 15 
Now sacrifice, and not, by Jove, to Jove. 

Iris. 
O fool, fool ! anger not the hearts of gods, 
But fear, lest Justice with the spade of Zeus 
Thy race in utter ruin overthrow, 
The torch thy body and thy circling domes 1320 

Reduce to cinders with Likymnian bolts. 

Peithetaerus. 
Hark'ee, my lady ! cease your shrewish rant ; 
Be still ; with words like these, I wish to know, 



132 1 (1242). "Likymnian bolts." Euripides wrote a tragedy 
called Likymnius ; and this passage is perhaps parodied from that 
drama : but in what sense (if sense here is to be looked for) bolts 
are called ' Likymnian/ we have no means of knowing. Perhaps 
Likymnius in the play is killed by lightning. 



Epeisodion III.] THE BIRDS. 115 



Lydian or Phrygian do you think to scare? 

If Zeus disturb us longer — mark me well — 1325 

His palace and Amphion's domes will I 

Reduce to cinders with fire-carrying eagles: 

And, warring on him, I'll despatch to heaven 

Magogian birds, in pardskin uniforms, 

Above six hundred by the tale ; and once 1330 

He found a single Magog troublesome. 

And, mistress Iris, if you shew your airs, 

You'll not get off scot-free. Return again 

To give us further trouble, and you'll find 

My harem has a vacant place for you. 1335 

Iris. 

Perdition seize you, wretch, with your vile language. 

PcitJietaerus. 
Shoo ! shoo ! be off, and suddenly : quick march ! 

Iris. 
My sire will quell your insolence, I swear. 



1324(1244). "Lydian or Phrygian." This is taken from the 
Alkestis of Euripides, v. 675, where Pheres says in answer to the 
reproaches of his son Admetus : 

4 Is it some Lydian or Phrygian slave 
Bought with thy money thou dost thus upbraid?' 
1326(1246). "Amphion's domes:" a parody from the Niobe 
of Aeschylus. 

1329 (1249). "Magogian birds:" Gr. < porphyrins ;' harm 1 ess 
seabirds, chosen by Aristophanes here, to suggest the giant whom 
Horace calls 'minaci Porphyrion statu.' See v. 584 (553). 

1332 (1253). The latter part of this speech is substituted, not 
translated 

8—2 



n6 THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion III. 



Peithetaerus. 
Dear, dear ! how very sad ! come, fly away, 
Fly, and reduce to cinders some small child. 1340 

[Exit Iris. 

Chorus, 

We're excluding all intruding Antistrophc. 

Of the Jove-descended gods ; 

Through our fortified abodes 

Never may they travel more. 

Nor by this road to gods again J 345 

Shall savour rise of victims slain 

On any mortal's sacrificial floor. 

****** 

Peithetaerus. 
Too bad ! that herald who was sent to mortals, 
It seems as if he never would return. 
Enter Herald. 

Herald. 
O Peithetaerus, O thou blest, thou wisest, 1350 

O thou thrice blest and noblest, O thou smoothest, 
Call silence, O call silence. 

Peithetaerus. 

What's your news? 



1347 (1266). Comparison with the Strophic passage 1274—6 
(1 196—8) seems to shew that three lines are here lost. 

1350(1267), &c. The herald compliments Peithetaerus, gives 
him an account of the enthusiasm created among men by the 
foundation of his new city, and says that large crowds are coming 
to obtain wings. 



Epeisodion III.] THE BIRDS. 1 17 



Herald. 
All people crown you with this golden crown 
For your sagacious tact, and honour you. 

Peithetaerus. 
Thanks ! Why am I thus honoured of the people ? 

Herald. 
O founder of a most illustrious 1356 

Etherial city, are you not aware 
What honour you have won in men's esteem, 
How many are enamoured of this land? 
Until this city was establish'd by you, 1360 

All men had been Lakonomaniacs ; 
They wore long hair, they fasted, they went dirty 
Like Sokrates, they carried skytal-staves : 



1353 (1274). "Golden crown." Such a gift was unusual at 
this date. After the battle of Salamis, olive crowns were voted to 
Eurybiades and Themistokles as rewards of valour. But we read 
in Thuk. iv. 121 that the people of Skione presented Brasidas 
with a golden crown. And this became usual at a later date, as 
witness the golden crown voted by the Athenians to Demosthenes 
the orator on the motion of Ktesiphon. 

1361 (1281). " Lakonomaniacs." There was always a minority 
at Athens who inclined to Lakedaemonian habits and institutions. 
But in the Peloponnesian war they had become an eccentric and 
affected class, whose habits are here held up to ridicule. 

1363(1282). " Like Sokrates." The plain style of living adopted 
by Sokrates, caused him (as appears from The Clouds) to be classed 
with the affected Lakonists. The verb here used is one of comic 
coinage, implying they had the Sokratic malady. 

"Carried skytal-staves." The 'skytale' was a staff invented 
at Sparta for the purpose of holding secret communication with 
generals and ambassadors. The 'skytalion' or small skytale was 
the Spartan walking- stick. 



Il8 THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion III. 

But now, converted, they've become birdmaniacs, 

And in this new delight do everything 1365 

That's done by birds, in mimicry of them. 

First, when they wake at early morn, they'll fly 

Together all to pasture, like ourselves, 

And then they'll settle down upon the books, 

And there continue feeding on decrees. 1370 

So manifestly bird-mad are they that 

To many men are given the names of birds. 

One limping shopkeeper they call a partridge : 

Menippus is a swallow, and Opuntius 



1367 — jo (1286—9). Kock says (perhaps justly^ that the word 
' nomos ' here means c pasture 7 only, and that the other meaning ' law' 
is not implied in it. The four lines are not free from obscurity ; 
but we must probably consider that the play of words is contained 
in the verbs only, not in the objects. According to Kock, Aris- 
tophanes says that the Athenians, after an early breakfast (of 
bread soaked in wine), resorted to the bookshops to get the news 
of the day ; and then (on business days) proceeded to the Pnyx to 
attend the assembly and consider decrees. So the birds are sup- 
posed to begin the day with pasturage, then to fly about and 
amuse themselves, and in the afternoon to take their principal 
meal. 

1 37 1 — 80 (1292 — 99). Of the persons named, Opuntius, Phi- 
lokles and Theogenes have been already noticed. Probably 
Philokles is called a lark because he managed to get the prize in 
competition with the Oedipus Rex of Sophokles, and a proverb 
says that 'to unpoetic minds the lark is more melodious than 
the swan.' The vulpanser, or Aegyptian goose, which represents 
Theogenes, is described by Aelian as a cunning bird. The lame 
shopkeeper (or vintner) is unknown: Menippus equally so. Lykurgus 
is ridiculed as of Aegyptian blood ; hence called 'ibis.' Chaerephon 
is the pallid companion of Sokrates ; he appears in The Clouds^ and 



Epeisodion III.] THE BIRDS. U 9 



An eyeless raven; Philokles a lark; I37S 

Theogenes vulpanser, and Lykurgus 

Is term'd an ibis, Chaerephon a bat, 

A magpie Syrakosius ; Meidias 

A quail they call, for he is like a quail 

By a quail-smiter wounded in the head. 1380 

And all from bird-delight are singing ballads, 

In which is any mention of a swallow, 

Of widgeon, goose, or woodpigeon, or wings, 

Or e'en a slight suspicion of a feather. 

Such tidings from that world. But one thing learn: 

Ten thousand men or more will come to you 1386 

From thence, desiring wings and crook-claw'd fashions: 

So wings you must find somewhere for the comers. 

Peitlictacrus. 

Faith, then, our business wont be standing still. 

You there, set off with speed, and fill the hampers, 

And every basket you can find, with wings. 1391 

[To a slave. 
Let Manes carry to me out of doors 

Those wings : and I'll receive the visitors. 



again in this play, v. 1655 (1 564). Meidias kept quails, and, as he had a 
scar on the forehead, he is likened to a quail wounded in the game 
called ' quail-smiting,' which (as described by Pollux, IX. 109) con- 
sisted in filliping the quail's head or plucking out a feather, and, if the 
bird bore this without flinching, its master won; otherwise not. Syra- 
kosius, a loquacious demagogue, hrd carried a law (for which the 
comic poet Phrynichus reviled him in The Monotropus, acted in 
competition with The Birds) forbidding comedies to be produced in 
which an individual was held up to continuous ridicule, as Kleon 
in The Knights, and Sokrates in The Clouds, 



120 THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion III. 

Chorus. 
Ere long will human beings all Strophe a. 

This place 'the many-peopled ' call: 1395 

If fortune smile, the coming age 
Will see my city quite the rage. 

Peithetaerus. 
Why don't the wings come quicker out ? 

Chorus. 
All that's beautiful and good Strophe b. 

Will not every sojourner 1400 

Find in ample measure here, 
Wisdom, Love, ambrosial Graces, 
And ; happiest of happy faces, 
The gentle-minded Quietude ? 

Peithetaerus. 
This is idle work, my master ; 1405 

Stir your stumps a little faster. [To Manes. 

Chorits. Antistrophe a. 

A pannier here of wings! be quick: — [To Manes. 

I hope you will not spare the stick : 
Your blows, like us, Sir, on him shower, 
No donkey in the world is slower. [To Peithetaerus. 

Peithetaerus. 
Yes, Manes is a fearful lout. 141 1 



1389 — 1419 (1308 — 1336). Peithetaerus and the Chorus, with 
slaves, busy themselves in the preparation of wings for mankind. 



Epeisodion III.] THE BIRDS. 121 



Chorus. 
First, these wings within your reach, Antistrophe b. 
Musical, prophetical, 
Maritime, assort them all : 

Next, observe the coming faces, 141 5 

And, weighing well their various cases, 
Assign the proper plumes to each. 

Peithetaerus. 

You'll catch it smartly, by the falcons, soon, 

If still I find you such a lazy loon. [To Manes. 

Enter a would-be Parricide. 

Parricide. 
A high-flying eagle I would be 1420 

To fly o'er the surge of the barren blue sea. 



141 2 — 14 (1332 — 3). The musical wings are for song-birds ; 
the prophetical for birds of prey, which were considered oracular; 
the maritime for sea-birds. 

1420 (1337), &c. Three specimens of the applicants for wings 
are introduced in the close of this Episode : (1) an unnatural son , 
(called here a parricide) who, emulating the young cock, heretofore 
mentioned v. 799 (758), professes a wish to strangle his father, and 
get his property. Peithetaerus treats him more mildly than he seems 
to deserve, dissuades him from his evil design, and dressing him up 
as an. ' orphanbird,' sends him to fight his country's battles in 
Thrace. (2) The dithyrambic poet Kinesias desires wings, which 
may enable him to soar into the clouds and there collect materials 
for his misty poetic preludes. Peithetaerus whips him out con- 
temptuously. (3) An informer (sycophant) wants wings, in order 
to pursue his dishonest trade more safely and rapidly. He is 
packed off with indignant and severe flagellation. After which the 
Chorus, again left alone, chants a Stasimon, of which the Strophe 



122 THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion III. 



Peithetaerus. 
Our herald's tale seems likely to be true : 
Here comes a fellow singing about eagles. 

Parricide. 
Ho, ho! there's nothing half so sweet as flying: 
I'm quite enamoured of the laws of birds. 1425 

I've the bird-mania ; yes, to fly I wish 
And dwell with you ; and I desire your laws. 

Pcitlictacrns. 
What laws d'ye mean? For birds have many laws. 

Parricide. 

All: chiefly that it's held a law of honour 

In birds to strangle and to peck their fathers. 1430 

Pcitlictacrns. 

Ay, and in fact w r hen a young cock stands up 
And spurs his sire, we hold him very — manly. 

Parricide. 

Therefore I migrate hither, and desire 

To choke my father, and possess his fortune. 



describes the worthless Kleonymus, under the likeness of a marvel- 
lous tree ; and the Antistrophe treats of the danger which Athe- 
nians incur on a dark night from the assaults of the cloak-robber 
Orestes. 

1425 (1343). "The laws." As this term is four times repeated 
in a few lines, and again v. 1435, it seems almost certain that a 
jeu de mots is designed between ' nomos,' iazu, and ' nomos,' pasture. 



Epeisodion III.] THE BIRDS. 1 23 

PcitJietaerus. 
Yes, but we birds have got an ancient law 1435 

Kept in the record-office of the storks, 
That when the parent stork has reared his brood 
\nd turn'd them out all capable of flying, 
The storklings in their turn must feed their sire. 

Parricide. 
Much good then I had got from coming here, 1440 
If I must e'en be made to feed my father. 

Peithetaerus. 

No, not at all: for since you came, poor wretch, 
With friendly feelings to us, I'll contrive 
To fit you, as an orphanbird, with wings. 

But take this hint, young fellow, not a bad one, 
Which I got in my boyhood : don't go back 1446 
And beat your father: but receive this wing 
In the one hand, and this sour in the other, 
And wear this crest as 'twere a cock's: then go, 
Serve both in garrison and in the field 145° 

For soldier's pay: so let your father live; 
And since your tastes are warlike, Thraceward fly, 
And fight your fill there. 

1444 (1362). "Orphanbird." The Greeks probably gave this 
name to some bird ; but it is not identified. 

144.7 — 9 ( l 3^S — 6). The "wing" here is represented by a 
shield, the " spur " by a spear, and the cock's " crest " by the crest 
of a helmet. 

1452 (1369). " Thraceward." The Athenians were always more 
or less engaged in warfare with the turbulent colonies in Thrace 
and Makedonia. See Thuk. iv. v. They had not recovered 
Amphipolis (lost B.C. 422) at the date of this play. 



1^4 THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion III. 

. Parricide. 

Ay, by Dionysus, 
I deem your counsel good, and I'll obey 
Your bidding. 

Peithctacrus. 

Tis a wise resolve, by Jove. 1455 

{Exit Parricide. 

Enter KINESIAS. 

Kinesias. 

Lightly with my wings I fly 
To Olympian seats on high, 
Fly to every varied strain 
In the lyrical domain — 

Peithetaerus. 
This creature's wanting a ship-load of feathers. 1460 

Kinesias. 
With a mind's eye void of fear 
Visiting the people here. 

Peithetaerus. 

Kinesias the linden-man, all hail ! 

Why limpest hither lithely, lame of leg ? 



1456 (1372). " Lightly, &c." This is parodied from Anakreon. 

' 1463 (1378). " Kinesias.'' This dithyrambic poet seems to 

have had an evil reputation both moral and literary. See Holden's 

Onom. In person he was slender, and on that account Peithetaerus 

calls him ' a man of lindenwood/ which is light and flexible. 



Epeisodion III.] THE BIRDS. 125 

Kinesias. 
Let me be made a bird, I beg, ja6$ 

A melodious nightingale. 

Peithetaerus. 
A truce to lyrics! Tell me what you want. 

Kinesias. 
I would be wing'd by you, and fly aloft, 
And from the clouds obtain some preludes new, 
Of air-elate and snow-propelling nature* 1470 

Peithetaerus. 
What ? Can a man get preludes from the clouds ? 

Kinesias. 

Yes, upon these alone our art depends. 
All brilliant dithyrambs are airy things, 
Dark, dimly-lighted, wing-rapt ; only listen, 
And you will quickly know. 

Peithetaerus. 

Indeed I won't. I475 

Kinesias. 

ih ! but you shall, I vow by Herakles : 
r or I will traverse all your atmosphere, 
Lnd sing — Ye shades of flying ones, sky-floating 
s x eck-stretching birds — 



1469 (1385). "Preludes." The first stave of a dithyrambic ode, 
accompanied by the 'kithara' or the lyre, was called a prelude 
mabole). Aristophanes here ridicules the frigid and far-fetched 
fectation of these compositions. 



126 THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion III. 

PeitJictacrus. 

I'll stop your boating. 

Kincsias. 
Wandering on the seaward track, 1480 

Let me ride the windy rack — 

PeitJictacrus. 
I'll take the wind out of your sails, I will. 

Kincsias. 
Now to the southern side careering, 
Now to the north my body veering, 
Ever cleaving, as I fly, 1485 

Harbourless furrows of the sky — 
Pretty and clever is your craft, old sire. 

\PcitJictacrus beats him with the wings. 

PeitJictacrus. 
There! don't you find it pleasant to be wing-rapp'd? 

Kincsias. 
Is this the way you treat the Cyclian teacher, 
Me, whom the rival tribes each year contend for? 1490 



1479(1395). "I'll stop your boating. ,? This is expressed ir 
Greek by a single cry 'oop* ( = stop her) used by boatmen when 
the boat is to be brought to shore. 

1487 (1401). " Pretty, &c." Peithetaerus here exhibits a pair 
of wings, which Kinesias commends, but, instead of giving them to 
him, Peithetaerus uses them to whip the poet, and when he winces, 
asks if he does not like being ' wing-rapp'd/ parodying the word 
before used by Kinesias. 

1489 (1403). " Cyclian teacher." Dithyrambic poetry was 
called Cyclian, because it took its origin from songs sung by a 



Epeisodion III.] THE BIRDS. 127 



Peithet aeries. 
Well, wont you stay with us awhile, and teach 
For bursar Leotrophides a chorus 
Of flying birds belonging to the Rail tribe? 

Kinesias. 
You're laughing at me, that I plainly see: 
But I will never rest, be sure of this ; 1495 

Till I've got wings and scudded through the air. 

[Exit Kinesias. 
Enter an Informer. 
Informer. 
Hither as the track I follow, 
Certain birds appear in view, 

chorus dancing round the altar of Bacchus. The poet instructed the 
chorus provided by the choragus of the tribe, and was hence 
called a teacher^ whether of dithyrambic, tragic, or comic poetry. 
Kinesias >ays that every tribe vied with the rest in the endeavour 
to secure him for its teacher in dithyrambic contests. 

1491 — 3 (1405-7). Aristophanes often amuses the audience 
by confounding Cloudcuckooborough with Athens, as here. Leo- 
trophides was a little mite of a man, and therefore a suitable 
choragus to engage the spare Kinesias. The 'choreutai 7 best 
adapted to such employers would be ' flying birds.' (See The 
Frogs, v. 1437, where it is said that Kleokritus winged with Kine- 
sias and borne away by the breezes would be a ludicrous sight.) 
The tribe to which they belong is given in most editions as 
1 Kekropida,' the Kekropian, one of the ten Attic tribes. For this 
word one scholar conjectures ' Kerkopida,' the baboon tribe; but 
what have the birds to do with baboons? There seems little 
doubt that Kock's emendation is right, ' Krekopida,' the tribe of 
the bird krex, on which see v. 1214 (1138), of course suggesting a 
play of sound between ' Kekropida' and ' Krekopida.' 

1498 (1410). "Certain birds, &c." The informer enters sing- 
ing an air from a song of the Lesbian poet Alkaeus. 



128 THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion III. 

Dapplewing'd, without a sou ; 

O pinionstretching dappled swallow! 1500 

Peithetaerus. 

This newly-wakened pest is not a light one : 
Here comes another fellow trilling airs. 

Informer. 
O pinionstretching dappled one 'da capo/ 

Peithetaerus. 

Methinks upon his cloak he sings the catch ; 

He seems to want no small amount of swallows. 1505 

Informer. 
Who is't supplies the visitors with wings? 

Peithetaerus. 
Your humble servant. What are your commands ? 

Informer. 
Wings, wings I want : you need not ask me twice. 

Peithetaerus* 

Direct to Woolston do you mean to fly ? 



1504 — 5 (1416— 7). "Upon his cloak." As the informer apo- 
strophizes the swallow twice as dappled, Peithetaerus jocularly 
says he sings about his own cloak, which is dappled with patches 
and holes ; and the words added, ' he needs not a few swallows/' 
allude to the well-known proverb, ' one swallow doesn't make 
spring-time.' 

1509(1421). " To Woolston : " lit/ to Pellene: Pellene in Achaia , 
was famous for its warm woollen cloaks. These were given as 
prizes in some of the games. See Pind. Op. IX. 98 ; Nem. x. 44. 



Epeisodion III.] THE BIRDS. X2 Q 

Informer. 
No: but an island-summoner am I, 15 10 

And an informer. 

Peithetaerns. 
What a blessed trade! 

Informer. 
Ay, and a suit-promoter: so I want 
A suit of wings to fly about my circuit 
And scare the cities with my writs of summons. 

Peithetaerus. 
With wings you'll summon then more cleverly? 1515 

Informer. 
No: but, to save annoyance from the pirates, 
I'll travel back in the crane caravan, 
With many lawsuits swallowed down for ballast. 

Peithetaerns. 
So that's your business, yours, a strong young man, 
To bring vexatious charges against foreigners? 1520 

Informer. 
What can I do ? I never learn'd to dig. 



1511(1423). " Informer," Gr. ' sukophantes.' This well-known 
Greek word originated in the informations laid against those who 
exported figs from Attica, in violation of the prohibitory laws. It 
became the customary name for those who made informing a trade, 
and was still more generally extended to persons who lived at other 
people's cost, as parasites. Hence its modern sense, ' sycophant.' 

15 18 (1429). The allusion here is to the stones supposed to b« 
swallowed by cranes as ballast See v. 1213 (1137)- - 

9 



130 THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion III. 

Peitlictaerus. 
But surely there are other decent trades, 
In which a fullgrown man might get his bread 
By doing rather than perverting justice. 

Informer. 
Correct me not, but wing me, noble Sir. 1525 

Peithetaerus. 

I do, by speaking. 

Informer. 
Wing by speech ? how so ? 

Peithetaerus. 
All men are wing'd by speeches. 

Informer. 

All men? 

Peithetaerus. 

Yes. 

Have you not often heard, when to their friends 

In barbers' shops the fathers thus discourse : 

'Too bad: Dieitrephes has wing'd with talk 1530 

That lad of mine to drive his curricle.' 

Another says, his boy is all a-wing 

For tragedy, and fluttered in his mind. 

Informer. 
So then by speeches they are wing'd ? 

1528 (1441). There is some corruption in the Greek here ; and 
by the words Ho their friends'* an emendation is admitted. 
1530 (1442). " Dieitrephes." See v. 835 (798). 



Epeisodion III.] THE BIRDS. j^i 



Peithetaerus. 

They are. 
By speeches intellect is elevated 1535 

And the man raised aloft. And so would I 
Wing you with honest words, and turn you to 
A lawful trade. 

Informer. 
But I will not be turned. 

Peithetaerus. 
What will you do then? 

Iji former. 

Not disgrace my kindred : 
Informing 's my ancestral occupation. 1540 

So fit me with some light and rapid wings, 
Falcon's or hawk's, that I may serve my writs 
On foreigners, then plead against them here, 
Then fly back there again. 

Peithetaerus. 

I catch your meaning. 
'Tis this: that, ere the foreigner arrives, 1545 

He may be cast in damages. 

Informer. 

Exactly, 

Peithetaerus. 
And while he's sailing hither, off you fly 
To foreign parts, and seize his goods, 

9-2 



132 THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion III. 

Informer. 

YouVe hit it. 
A top's the very thing to be. 

Peithetaerus. 

A top! 
I comprehend; and, by the powers, IVe got 1550 
These capital wings of Korkyrean make. 

Informer. 
Woe's me ! you've got a whip. 

Peithetaerus. 

No, no ; two wings, 
With which I mean this day to set you spinning. 

[ Whips him. 
Informer. 
Alas, alas! 

Peithetaerus. 
Come, wing your way from hence 
And trickle off, abominable hangdog: 1555 

Your justicetwisting tricks shall cost you dear. 

[Exit Informer. 
Now let us gather up the wings and go. 

[Exit Peithetaerus with slaves, 



t 555 (1467). Abominable hangdog (O destined to perish most miser- 
ably). 

1556 (1468). Your, &c. (You shall soon see a bitter justice-perverting 
roguery). 



1551 (1463). "Of Korkyrean make." The whips of Korkyi: 
were famous. That produced here has a double lash. 



■Stasimon I.] THE BIRDS. 



133 



Chorus. 
Many wondrous things and new Strophe, 

Come before my gliding view : 

Many very startling sights 1560 

We have noticed in our flights. 
From the common road apart, 
At some distance beyond Hart, 
Stands a tree beheld by us, 

And its name Kleonymus : 1565 

Fearful 'tis and tall to see, 
Yet a good-for-nothing tree. 
In the springtime when it grows, 
Many a load of figs it shews, 

But in winter on the fields iS/O 

Its branches shed not leaves but shields. 
There's a region far away, Antistrophe. 



1558 (1470), &c. Many wondrous &c. (many things both new and 
wondrous ere now flew we too, and beheld strange things. For there is a 
tree growing out of the way, farther off than Xardia, Kleonymus, good for 
nothing, but merely timid and tall. This in spring ever sprouts and shews 
figs (lays informations), but in winter again sheds shields for leaves). 



1558 (1474), &C. A choric ode dividing Episodes, as here (and 
twice afterwards), is technically called a Stasimon. This Stasimon 
has both strophe and antistrophe, but the other two correspond to 
each other as strophe and antistrophe. 

1563 (1474). "At some distance beyond Hart;" lit. 'farther 
off than Kardia: There is a play on words here. Kardia (Heart) 
was a town in the Thracian Chersonese. Kleonymus is branded as 
wanting courage, without ' heart.' He is represented by a tree, 
goodlooking but worthless. It < shews figs indeed in spring-time,' 
that is, in peace he lays base informations (as Kleonymus did during 
the process of the Hermokopidae) ; but its winter droppings are 
shields not leaves ; that is, in war-time he plays the coward. 



134 THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion IV. 

Where our pinions seldom stray, 

Unto Nightland's borders near, 

In Nolightland's desert drear. 1575 

There the children of mankind 

Often have with heroes din'd, 

And with heroes can abide, 

Only not at eventide; 

At that season 'twould not be 1580 

Safe to keep their company. 

If at night mortal wight 

Doth upon Orestes light, 

Hero bold, he's stript by him, 

And smitten in each noble limb. 1585 

Enter PROMETHEUS disguised, and tender a sunshade. 



Prometheus. 
Me miserable ! mind Zeus see me not ! 
Is Peithetaerus in ? 






1583 (1491). " Orestes." This footpad (see v. 749) is called 
1 a hero/ as having the same name with the son of Agamemnon. 
There is an allusion here to a current superstition that a sudden 
vision of a deity or hero would cause an apoplectic stroke. 

1586 (1494), &c. The fourth Episode introduces Prometheus, 
who has stolen out of heaven disguised, and hiding under a sun- 
shade. He comes to give secret information that the gods, reduced 
by hunger, are sending an embassy to treat for peace : and he 
suggests to Peithetaerus what terms he should demand, in order 
to secure supreme dominion for himself and the bird-realm. The 
whole scene is a broad caricature of the Promethean myth, as 
exhibited by Aeschylus in his extant drama, Prometheus Bau?id, 
and, as we may certainly believe, in the Fire-bri?iging Prometheus 
(a satyric drama), and the Prometheus Released, which are lost 






Epeisodion IV.] THE BIRDS. I35 

Peithetaerns re-entering. 

Hilloa! who's here? 
What wraps are these? 

Promethezts. 
Dye spy some god behind me? 

Peithetaerzcs. 
Not I, upon my honour! Who are you? 

Prometheus. 
Inform me then what time o' day it is. 1590 

Peithetaerzcs. 
What time o' day ? The early afternoon. 
But who are you ? 

Promethezts. 
Towards four o'clock, or later? 

Peithetaerzts. 
Your folly sickens me. 

Prometheus. 
What's Zeus about? 
Clearing the clouds off, or collecting them ? 

Peithetaerus. 
A mischief to you. 



1592 (1500). "Towards four o'clock :" Gr. 'boulutos,' the time 
of loosing kine from the plough, about four in the afternoon. See 
Horn. //. xvi. 779. Od. ix. 58. 






.136 THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion IV. 



Prometheus. 



Well then, I'll unveil. 1595 
[throws off his disguise. 

Peithetaerus. 
Prometheus, my dear friend ! 

Prometheus. 

Stop, stop, don't shout. 

Peithetaerus. 
Why not? 

Prometlieus. 

Be quiet ; don't call out my name, 
I'm lost for ever if Zeus view me here. 
But, while I'm telling you the news from heaven, 
Just take this sunshade, will you? hold it up 1600 
Above my head, that so the gods mayn't see me. 

Peithetaerus. 

Bravissimo ! a good device indeed, 

Of true Promethean fancy ! Come, be quick, 

Step under, and then speak without alarm. 



1595 (1503). "Ill unveil." Peithetaerus, provoked by the cross- 
questioning of Prometheus, begins to revile, upon which, as if 
replying to the most friendly solicitation, Prometheus discovers 
himself. 

1602 (15 11). "A good, &c:" lit. 'well devised and Pro;?iethi- 
eally.- Aeschylus says : i All arts to mortals from Prometheus come.' 
The name implies firecautioti ox forethought. 



Epeisodion IV.] THE BIRDS. 137 



Prometheus. 
Now listen with attention. 

Peithetaerus. 

Speak : I listen. 1605 

Prometheus* 

Well ! Zeus is ruined. 

Peithetaerus. 
Can you date his ruin ? v 

Prometheus. 
From your first atmospheric settlement. 
No man from that time offers anything 
To gods ; no savour comes to us on high 
From legs of mutton: mulcted of our victims, 1610 
We fast as in the Thesmophorian days : 
And wild with hunger the barbarian gods, 

1610 (1517). Legs of mutton (thigh-meat). 

161 1 (15 19). "In the Thesmophorian days." The Thesmo- 
phoria were solemnized by married women in honour of Demeter 
from the 9th to the 13th of Pyanepsion (November). One of these 
was a day of mourning and fasting, and abstinence was also re- 
quired in preparation for the mysteries celebrated during the festival. 
See The Thesmophoriaztisae of our poet. 

1612 (1520). "The barbarian gods." As barbarous tribes dwell 
to the north of Greece, so Aristophanes ludicrously supposes bar- 
barous gods existing above the heavenly Olympus, and gives them 
a title taken from one of the fiercest and most uncivilized Thracian 
tribes, the Triballi. See Thuk. II. 96. This conception, as shewn 
here and in the subsequent scene, is one of the raciest humour. 



138 THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion IV. 

All screeching like Illyrians, fiercely say 
They'll march their armies from above on Zeus, 
Unless he'll open all the ports, that tripe 161 5 

And sausages may enter duty-free. 

Pcithctaerus. 
How? are there other and barbarian gods 
Above yourselves ? 

Promctlieus. 
What are they but barbarians, 
Whence Exekestides obtains his siregod ? 

Peitlictacrus. 
And these barbarian gods, what is their name ? 

Prometheus. 
Their name ? Triballi. 

Peitketaerus. 
Oh, I understand : 
That means to say, they are a ' tribe allied/ 



1615 (15-24). That tripe, &c. (that chopped entrails may be imported). 
1622 (1530). That means, &c. (hence then came the phrase, be 
thou smashed). 



1619 (1527). "Siregod." The members of a ward worshipped 
a common Zeus and Apollo with the title ' siregod' (patroos). 
Exekestides, stigmatized by Aristophanes as a spurious citizen, 
would have no true Hellenic ' siregod/ but must find one among 
barbarian deities. See vv. 11. 804 (765). 

1622 (1530). "A tribe allied." This jeu de mots is substituted 
for that of Aristophanes, which would be lost in literal translation. 



Epeisodion IV.] . THE BIRDS. 1 39 

Prometheus. 
Just so. But let me state one certain fact : 
From Zeus and those Triballians up above 
Envoys are coming here to treat for peace: 1625 

But don't conclude on any terms but these : 
That Zeus restore the sceptre to the Birds, 
And give you Royalty to be your bride. 

Peithetacrus. 
Who is this Royalty ? 

PrometJieus. 

A lovely maid, 
Who has the charge of Zeus's lightning-closet 1630 
And all his other stores, his maxims sage, 
His wholesome laws, his temperance, his dockyards, 
His slang, his paymaster, his sixpences. 

1630 (1538). Lightning-closet (lightning). 

1629(1536). "Royalty:" Gr. 'Basileia.' The kingly power of 
Zeus is personified under this title. 

1630 (1538). " Has the charge of." Holden has a reading, not 
here adopted, giving the sense 'moulds the lightning.' 

1633 (1541). "His slang." Kock, following Reiske, argues in 
favour of reading ' his ambrosia/ but he does not edit so. There 
is much weight in what is urged : but the change is too bold. The 
four things last named here, dockyards &c, are comically taken 
from Athenian institutions. 

"Paymaster:" Gr. 'kolakretes:' an officer who had charge of 
the fund from which payments were made to jurymen, whose fee 
would be 'three obols' a day, 'triobolon,' %d., here called in round 
numbers ' sixpence.' 



140 THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion IV. 

Peithetaerus. 
Why, then she keeps his all. 

Prometheus. 

She really does: 1634 
And when youve got her from him, you've got all. 
'Twas for that reason that I came to tell you : 
IVe always been a zealous friend to men. 

Peithetaerus. 
True; you're the only god through whom we grill. 

Prometheus. 
And all the gods, you're well aware, I hate. 

Peithetaerus. 
Yes, this cleaves to you ever, hate of gods. 1640 

Prometheus. 
A genuine Timon ! But I must run back ; 

1638 (1546). "We grill." One offence of Prometheus against 
Zeus was that he stole fire from heaven, and gave it to men. Aes- 
chylus says: 'Giver of fire to men you see Prometheus.' And 
Horace; C. I. 3, 'Audax Iapeti genus ignem fraude mala gentibus 
intulit.' 

1641 (1548 — 9). Kock assigns the words "A genuine Timon" 
to Peithetaerus. This can hardly be right for the following reason. 
In v. 1640 (1548) Peithetaerus uses a word designedly ambiguous, 
which indeed more correctly signifies 'hated of the gods' than 
'hating the gods.' If he then added the words 'a genuine 
Timon/ he would only cancel his own joke, for Timon was i a man- 
hater* only, as Prometheus is 'a god-hater' Prometheus is supposed 
to ignore the cavil, and to accept the phrase of Peithetaerus in 
his own sense : hence he calls himself a Timon, one who hates 



Stasimon II.] THE BIRDS. 141 



So hand me here the sunshade, that, if Zeus 

From upper realms behold me, I may seem 

To follow in due form the basket-bearer. 1644 

Peithetaerus. 
There ! take this campstool also for your purpose. 

[Exit Prometheus. 

Chorus. 
Near the Shadowfeet are certain shoals, Strophe. 

Where the dirty Sokrates charms souls. 



1645 (1552). There I take, &c. (and take this stool and be a stool- 
bearer). 



his fellow-gods as truly as Timon did his fellow-men. The story 
1 of Timon the misanthrope, son of Echekrates, is so well known 
from Shakspeare's play, that it need not be related here. 

1644-5 055 1 — 2 )- I n tne procession of the Panathenaea the 
sacred baskets were borne by Athenian maidens, daughters of 
citizens, on their heads. Such a maiden was called ' Basket- 
bearer' (kanephoros). Behind each walked the daughter of a 
resident alien (metoikos) with a sunshade to protect the basket- 
bearer from sun or rain, and a campstool (diphros) on which she 
could rest when fatigued. Such a maiden was called 'a stool- 
I bearer' (diphrophoros); and Prometheus hopes to be taken by Zeus 
.for one of these. 

1646 (1553), &c. This Stasimon and its antistrophe after" Epi- 
■ sode V. are a sequel to the one at v. 1558 (1470), introducing, in 
the same manner, scenes and characters supposed to have been 
viewed by the Birds in their flights : but really such as Aristophanes 
selects for ridicule. In this place the chief hero is Peisander : but 
occasion is taken to caricature again the poet's old bete noire, 
; Sokrates, with his friend Chaerephon. Readers of Thirlwall's and 
I Grote's histories are acquainted with the unprincipled character and 
conduct of this Peisander, an inquisitor in the affair of the Hermo-- 



I4 2 THE BIRDS. [Stasimon II. 



The spirit that left his living frame 

To gaze at there, Peisander came, 

Camel-lamb as victim carried, 1650 

Cut its throat, and near it tarried, 



kopidae, B.C. 415, Archon in 414, afterwards (for his traitorous 
conduct in the oligarchic conspiracy of 411) condemned to death, 
but saved by flight His tall ungainly form (like a camel's), his 
credulity and his cowardice, are here ridiculed. The poet uses the 
current superstition that the souls of the dead could be evoked by 
sacrifice and prayer, and be seen and questioned by the living. 
Passing by the scriptural narrative of the Witch of Endor, the 
earliest classical instance is that of Odysseus in Horn. Od. XI. 49, 
here cited. Such exorcism was practised in establishments on 
the banks of lakes and rivers, as at Avernus in Italy, and on the 
Acheron in Thesprotia. See Herod, v. 92. These were called 
'psychopompeia,' or, when used for divination, 'psychomanteia.' 
Sokrates is exorcist, partly on account of his personal eccentricities, 
partly because he ' charmed the souls' of his disciples. One of 
these, the ghostlike Chaerephon, nicknamed the bat (see v. 1377), 
is chosen as the soul that appears to Peisander, because his en- 
thusiastic temper was capable of supplying to the cowardly poli- 
tician that which had ' left his living frame,' a brave i spirit/ per- 
haps also because his own visage might gain some colour from 
the blood of the ( camel-lamb.' Thus the pale-faced but warm- 
hearted young philosopher is contrasted with the ruddy but spiritless 
political intriguer. 

1646(1553). "Shadow-feet:" Gr. 'Skiapodes.' Pliny (N. H. 
VII. 2) cites an absurd account given by Ctesias of a Libyan people, 
one-legged, with feet so enormous as so serve them for sunshades 
while they sleep : hence their name, Skiapodes. 

1650 (1559). "Camel-lamb." The slaughter of sheep in the 
process of exorcism is described by Homer. The lamb here men- 
tioned is called a camel-lamb, in ridicule of Peisander's size. 

1651 (1561). "And near it tarried." The MS. reading gives 
'and went away.' This (as Kock observes) can hardly be true: 
for Peisander waits to see the spirit (Chaerephon) come up, and 



Epeisodion V.] THE BIRDS. 143 



As Odysseus did of old : 

Suddenly from beneath the mould, 

Of the camel's blood to sup, 

He saw Chaerephon the bat come up. 1655 

Scene II. Part of the ramparts of Cloudcuckooborough ; 
an alcove in the scene as a kitchen where Peithe- 
TAERUS is engaged with slaves cooking. Enter 
Poseidon, Herakles and Triballus. 

Poseidon. 
This is the fortress of Cloudcuckooborough 
Within our view, to which we're sent as envoys. 
What's that you're doing there ? pulling your cloak 

Odysseus in Homer says, 'We sat, and up there came my mother's 
spirit.' 

1654 (1562). "Camel's blood." The Gr. word used (laima) has 
no existence : but we may suppose it to be a coinage of the poet, 
hybrid between 'laimos,' throat, and 'haima' blood: i.e. throat-blood. 

1656 (1565), &c. The three ambassadors from heaven arrive; 
Poseidon, Herakles and a Triballian God. They find Peithetaerus 
engaged in preparations for a banquet: and although Herakles 
comes with a murderous purpose, the savour of the kitchen and 
the promise of a good meal persuade him to accept the conditions 
of Peithetaerus. He gets the vote of the Triballian also; and, 
in spite of Poseidon's opposition, the sceptre and the maiden are 
conceded. They then retire with Peithetaerus, proposing to take 
him with them back to heaven, where Royalty, with her belongings, 
shall be delivered to the Bird-chief in person. Schonborn's view 
is {die Skene der Hellenen p. 321), that a change of scene has been 
effected before the arrival of the envoys. It seems more likely 
that this would be done, if at all, during the longer Stasimon at v. 
1558 (1470). His opinion, however, is here accepted. 

1658 (1567). The Triballian, whose personal appearance, no 
doubt, corresponds to his title of barbarian, is unacquainted with 



144 THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion V. 

To the left side in that ungainly style? 1659 

Put round and draw it, can't you ? to the right. 
Ah, clumsy being! you're a born Laispodias. 

[To the Triballian God. 
What will you bring us to, Democracy, 
If the gods choose a deputy like this ? 
Be still, you plague ! Of all the gods I've seen 
You are the one most barbarous by far. 1665 

[To the Triballian again. 
Well, Herakles, what's to be done? 

Heraklcs. 

You've heard, 

I want to strangle him outright, the man, 

Whoe'er he is, that's walling out the gods. 

the style of wearing the cloak (himation) which is fashionable at 
Olympus, as in Athens. This fashion was, to pass it over the left 
shoulder, draw it round the back towards the right (epi dexia), and 
passing it under the right arm, which was left free, then to bring it 
back to the left shoulder, where it was finally clasped, hanging 
down gracefully towards the feet. The clumsy Triballian has put 
on his cloak the reverse way, towards the left (ep' aristera), shewing 
himself thoroughly gauche and illbred. This draws on him the 
wrath and rebuke of the high-bred Olympian, Poseidon. 

1661 (1569). " Laispodias:" a commander mentioned by Thuk. 
vi. 105, and again vili. 86, as one of the oligarchic faction. The 
Scholiast says that he wore his cloak in an unusual way to hide 
a defect in his legs. But the name may perhaps be used merely 
for the sake of its etymology, 'left- footed,' implying awkwardness. 

1662 (1570). The bad choice of an envoy is laughably ascribed 
to democratic institutions adopted in Olympus. 

1664(1572). "Be still." This is certainly said by Poseidon, 
who sees that his clumsy colleague, attempting to reverse his cloak, 
only makes matters worse. 



Epeisodion V.] THE BIRDS, 1 45 

Poseidon. 
Nay, Sir, but our instructions are to treat 1669 

For peace. 

Herakles. 
So much the more I vote for strangling. 

Peithetaerus. 
Hand the cheese-scraper, somebody : fetch silphium ; 
Bring cheese, and heat the coals within the grate. 

Poseidon, 
We bid the gentleman good day, we gods, 
Three in commission. 

Peithetaerus. 

Now then, scrape the silphium. 

Herakles. 
What meat is this you're dressing? 

Peithetaerus. 

Certain birds 
Against the democratic birds arose, 1676 

And suffered condemnation for high treason. 



167 1 (1578). Peithetaerus here baits the hook for Herakles, whose 
character as a gourmand had been thoroughly established by 
Euripides in his A Ikestis, 

1674 (1582). Here and elsewhere Peithetaerus affects supreme 
indifference to the presence of the deities, and devotion to his own 
culinary duties. 

1675 (1583). Herakles begins to nibble at the bait. 

10 



146 THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion V. 

Herakles. 
So then, you first scrape silphium on them, do you ? 

Peithetaerus. 
Ah, Herakles, good morning. What's your pleasure ? 

Poseidon. 
We're come as envoys from the gods to treat 1680 
About a termination of the war. 

Peithetaerus. 
There's not a drop of oil within the cruse. 

Herakles. 
And yet your volaille wants a nice rich sauce. 

Poseidon. 
We for our part gain nothing by the war, 
And you, by being friendly with the gods, 1685 

Would have rain-water in your tanks at once, 
And live without cessation halcyon days. 
On all these points we bring full powers to treat. 

Peithetaerus. 
Well ; we were not the first in former time 
To war with you: and, now, if so resolved, 1690 

And if at last you're willing to do justice, 
We'll come to terms. Our just demand is this, 
That Zeus restore the sceptre to us birds. 
And if we settle things on this condition, 
I shall invite the embassy to luncheon. 1695 



1695 (1602). "To luncheon." Peithetaerus here spins his bait 
So temptingly, that Herakles gorges it without further hesitation. 



Epeisodion V.] THE BIRDS. 1 47 






Herakles. 
I'm quite content with this, and give my vote — 

Poseidon. 
For what, you madman ? You're a silly glutton : 
You'll rob your father of his royal sway ? 

Peithetaerns. 
So, so ? and won't you gods be stronger far 
If birds command below? For mortals now 1700 

Conceal'd beneath the clouds hang down their heads, 
And call on you to witness perjuries. 
But, if you have the birds for your allies, 
When by the raven and by Zeus a man 
Shall swear, and break his plight, the raven then, 1705 
Approaching unperceiv'd, shall pounce on him, 
And strike his eye out with a single blow. 

Poseidon. 
Ay, by Poseidon, this at least's well said. 

Herakles. 
I think so. 

Poseidon. 
What do you say? 



Triballian. 



[To the Triballian. 
Nabaisatreu. 



1708 (1604). Poseidon ludicrously adjures himself. 
1709(1615;. "Nabaisatreu." Kock takes this to mean let us 

10 — 2 



148 THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion V. 

Peithetaerus. 
You see, he gives assent. Hear furthermore 17 10 
How great a service we've in store for you. 
If any man shall vow to any god 
A sacrifice, and then with artful quibbles 
Excuse himself and say, ' The gods can wait/ 
Declining from mere stinginess to pay, 171 5 

This also we'll exact. 

Poseidon. 

How so ? let's see. 

Peithetaerus. 

When the man's counting out a petty sum, 

Or sitting in his bath, a kite shall swoop 

Uniiotic'd, clutch the coins, and carry up 

The value of two sheep unto the god. 1720 

Hcraklcs. 
I vote for giving back the sceptre to them. 

Poseidon. 
Ask the Triballian next. 



three go back, 3. virtually negative reply, which Peithetaerus pre- 
tends to interpret otherwise. He proceeds, however, to give a 
second instance in favour of concession. 

1723 (1628). Instead of asking the Triballian if he votes for 
yielding, Herakles banteringly asks, if he votes for * smarting,' that 
is, accepting bad terms. The Triballian's reply is in Aristophanes 
'saunaka baktarikrousa,' which is partly intelligible; 'beat with 
the stick my (skin?).' An analogous jargon is substituted in the 
version. 



Epeisodidn V.] THE BIRDS. 149 

Herakles. 

Do you, Triballian, 
Consent to a sound whipping? 

Triballian. 

Stikaliki 

Mitaki. 

Herakles. 

My proposal's good, he says. 

Poseidon. 
If you both vote so, then I vote with you. 1725 

Herakles. 
Sir, we concede this point about the sceptre. 

Peithetacrus. 
Ay, but there's one thing more which I forgot. 
Hera indeed I yield to Zeus, but he 
Must give the Princess Royalty to me 
In lawful wedlock. 

Poseidon. 

Peace is not your object: l 7?>o 

Let us go home again. 

Peithetaerns. 
Little I care. 
Cook, mind you make the sauce sweet. 



1727 (1632). Peithetaerus has skilfully obtained the concession 
of one claim before he puts forward the other, which he pretends 
to recollect suddenly. 



1 50 THE BIRDS. [Epeisodion V. 

Herakles. 

My good man 
Poseidon, whither are you rushing off? 
Are we to go to war about one woman ? 

Poseidon. 
What must we do then ? 

Herakles. 
Come to terms of course. 1735 

Poseidon. 
Poor wretch, you know not that you're being duped. 
You harm yourself moreover. If Zeus die, 
After the kingdom has been given to these, 
You will be poor: for all the money's yours 
That Zeus will leave behind him at his death. 

Peithetaerus. 

dear, O dear! how sadly he deceives you! 1741 
Come here aside, and have a word with me. 

Your uncle sets you wrong, unhappy Sir; 

Not one hair's breadth of all your father's goods 

Is yours by law. You're illegitimate. 1745 

Herakles. 

1 illegitimate ? What can you mean ? 

1732 (1638). "My good man." The gods comically address 
one another with human familiarity. 

• 1 7 39 (1 644). "The money's yours." This and all that follows 
is highly comic. Zeus, the supreme and immortal deity, is sup- 
posed to be going to die some day, and leave money behind him 
which will be inherited by the rules of Attic law. 



Epeisodion V.] THE BIRDS. 15 1 



Peithetaerus. 
You are, by Zeus ! a foreign woman's child : 
Or how d'ye think Athene could be heiress, 
A daughter, had she lawful brothers living? 

Herakles. 

Well, but suppose my sire give me the money 1750 
After his death, by special codicil, 
As to a spurious son. 

Peithetaerus. 

The law forbids him. 
Why, this Poseidon, who's now cramming you, 
Will be the first to claim your father's money, 
Saying that he himself is lawful brother. 1755 

I'll now recite to you the law of Solon: 

'A bastard shall have no inheritance while lawful 
children are alive, and, if there are no lawful children, 
then the next of kin shall share the property between 
them.' 1760 

Herakles. 
So then I've no claim to my father's money? 

1752 (1656). "The law forbids him." Peithetaerus, while as- 
serting that the simple Herakles is duped by his uncle Poseidon, 
does not however tell him the exact truth. If a father died in- 
testate, illegitimate children at Athens took nothing. But the 
father could bequeath them a limited sum: he could also, during 
his life, legitimate them, by obtaining the consent of the people, 
and presenting them, as adopted, to his wardsmen for enrolment. 
Zeus however had not done this, says Peithetaerus in his comic 
vein ; therefore Herakles, not having been legitimately adopted, 
will be left penniless. 



152 THE BIRDS, [Epeisodion V. 

Peithetaerus. 
No, none, by Zeus. Just tell me, did your father 
At any time present you to his wardsmen ? 

Herakles. 
Me? never: I'd been wondering at it long. 

PeitJietaems. 
Why stare up at the sky with looks like cudgels ? 
Stand on our side, and I'll create you king, 1766 

I'll give you bird's milk to your heart's content. 

Herakles. 
Again what you propose, I think, is just 
About the maiden, and I yield her to you. 

Peithetaerus. 
And what say you? [To Poseidon. 

Poseidon. 
I vote the other way. 1770 

Peithetaerus. 
All rests with the Triballian. What say you ? 

[To the Triballian. 
Triballian. 
Dipritti girli biggi royalbaki 
Abirdi yieldimi. 

1765 (1671). Herakles looks up as if he would like to knock 
his father down: and Peithetaerus, promising him a kingdom and 
— bird's milk withal, catches his silly fish a second time. 

1772 (1679). The barbaric Greek of the Triballian is quite 
intelligible, and is here translated into barbarous English, meaning 
c the pretty maiden and great kingdom I yield back to the birds.' 



Epeisodion V.] THE BIRDS. 1 53 

Herakles. 
He says he yields. 

Poseidon. 
No, no ! he does not really say he yields, 
But only twitters as the swallows do. 1775 

Pcithetaerus. 
Why, then he says he yields her to the swallows. 

Poseidon. 

Well, draw your clauses, and arrange between you : 
For, since you're both agreed, I'll say no more. 

Herakles. 

Our vote is, to admll all your conditions. 

But come with us to heaven yourself: there take 1780 

The Princess Royalty and all her trousseau. 

Peithetaerns. 

In seasonable time then for the wedding 
These birds were slaughtered. 

Herakles. 

Will you let me stay 
Meantime and roast this meat, while you depart ? 1784 



1775 (1682). "As the swallows do." Swallows are the birds 
whose twittering was especially considered by the Greeks to re- 
semble the language of barbarian nations. See Aesch. Ag. 1050 
and The Frogs, vv. 93, 681. 



*54 THE BIRDS. [Stasimon III. 



Poseidon. 

You roast the meat? much tasting's what you mean. 
Come on with us. 

Herakles. 

I should have been in clover. 

Peitlietaerns. 
Let some one get me out a wedding-mantle. 

[Exeunt Peithetaerns and the three gods. 

Chorus. A n tistrophe. 

In the Peachings, on the Waterglass side, 
Rascally tonguebellied tribes abide, 

1785 (1691). "Much tasting." The Gr. word (tentheia) answers 
in some measure to the French ' gourmandise] implying the selec- 
tion of the nicest dainties in eating. 

1786 (1692). "I should have been in clover." Kock supposes 
Herakles to say ironically, 'I should be well off if I went with 
you to heaven' where there is nothing to eat. Surely this is erro- 
neous on grounds of logic and language. Peithetaerus has given 
no consent: the presence of the three envoys would be required 
in the council of Olympus : and it is far more comic to understand 
that the disappointed glutton, following his colleagues, casts a 
longing lingering look at the matelote he leaves behind, and 
mutters, 'how nice it would have been? The promised luncheon 
seems to be deferred to the marriage celebration. Comedy does 
not care for the famous unities. 

1788 (1696), &c. In this antistrophic Stasimon the objects of 
ridicule are the foreign 'Sophists' who travelled about lecturing 
and teaching rhetoric for money. Two of these are especially 
named, (1) the famous Gorgias of Leontini in Sicily, and (2) 
Philippus, a rhetorician of the same school. He is called in The 
Wasps (v. 421) 'son of Gorgias,' perhaps not in the literal sense. 
They are termed tongue-bellied (ventriloquists), because they lived 



Exodos.] THE BIRDS. 1 55 



Who with their tongues both reap and sow, 1790 

And grapes and figs in plenty grow. 

These are of barbarian races, 

Philips all and Gorgiases. 

Hence arose a custom new, 

To those tonguebellied Philips due: 1795 

Attic usage everywhere 

Cuts the tongue for a separate share. 

Enter Third Messenger. 

Third Messenger. 
O ye of every countless good possest, 

by lecturing. They are said to reside at 'Phanae' (here rendered 
the Peachings), a comically invented name : implying that the 
rhetoric taught by these sophists enabled rascally 'informers' to 
make the worse appear the better reason. The words 'on the 
Waterglass side' (Gr. Klepsydra) point (1) to the fountain of 
Klepsydra ('hiding water') on the slope of the Akropolis, (2) to 
the implement so called, the Waterglass, by which the time allowed 
for speeches in courts of law was measured. 

1 791 (1699). "Figs." An allusion to the informers (sycophants 
lit. 'figshewers'). 

1792(1700). "Barbarian:" here 'non- Athenian': for Leontini 
was a Hellenic colony, where Greek was spoken. 

1797 (1705). " Cuts the tongue." Aristophanes plays false with 
antiquarian lore when it suits him. In the Homeric age the 
tongues of victims were reserved, and offered to the gods with 
a libation after the banquet. See Horn. Od. ill. 332, 341. Some 
say this was in honour of Hermes, god of eloquence. At Athens, 
in some sacrifices, the tongue became the perquisite of the heralds 
in attendance : of whom Hermes was the tutelar god. See The 
Peace, v. 1060, Plutus, v. 1 1 10. It seems, especially from the former 
passage, as if the herald gave formal notice to the sacrificing priest 
with the words, 'the tongue is cut separately.' 

1798 (1706), &c. Here begins the Exodos or concluding scene. 



156 THE BIRDS. [Kxodos. 

flying race of birds, supremely blest, 

Receive the monarch in his prosperous home. 1800 

He comes, he comes : like him in goldbright dome 

Ne'er dawn'd to view the full-orb'd glittering star: 

No beamy splendour of the sun from far 

Shone forth so glorious as the queenly bride 

Of untold beauty moving by his side. 1805 

Flashing the winged levin-bolt of Jove 

He comes, while soars to vaulted skies above 

A scent unutterable, beauteous sight, 

And incense-breezes coil a smoky light. 

Himself appears: the goddess Muse to-day 1810 

Behoves from holy lips to pour the auspicious lay. 

PEITHETAERUS and BASILEIA descend in a flying ear, 
while the Chorus sings. 

CI writs. 
Room for the company ! cheerily, merrily 

The messenger is supposed to have attended Peithetaerus to 
heaven, and to announce his return as an avant-courier. His 
speech is a parody of the most inflated tragic style. The Chorus 
prepare to receive Peithetaerus, who descends from Olympus in 
a chariot with Basileia (Royalty), as 'the Zeus' of the Birds. All 
the resources of the Attic stage were evidently employed to pro- 
duce a grand effect to eye and ear in this concluding scene. 
First comes the hymeneal song of the Chorus ; then lightning 
and thunder accompany their exultant hymn of praise. Finally 
the bride and bridegroom ascend to the 'hall of Zeus,' — the cloud- 
palace where their wedding is to be celebrated — amidst the crash 
of musical instruments and the Paean shouts raised by the Birds 
to their 'supremest deity.' 

1802 (1710). "The full-orb'd glittering star": i.e. 'the full moon.' 

1812(1720). " Cheerily, merrily." The Greek here could not be 

literally rendered with any corresponding effect. These adverbs 



ExODOa] THE BIRDS. I57 

Flutter around him, 

Wishing him joy of the joy that has crown'd him ■ 
O bliss! O bliss! Ig ' 

What bloom of youth, what beauty this ! 

To the city of thy sway 

Happy is thy marriage day. 
Great fortune for the Birds is stor'd, 
Yea, great, through this victorious lord. 182Q 

So with Hymen's songs of glee 
And bridal carols welcome ye 
Him and his partner Royalty. 

SOXG I. 
When the goddess Fates allied Strophe. 

To Hera, his Olympian bride, 1825 

Him, the high and heavenly One, 
Him who held the exalted throne, 
They sang the song of Hymen Hymenaeus. 

Golden-wing'd, the bloomy Love Antistrophe. 
His chariot lightly reining drove, 1830 

With his present power to bless 
Jove's and Hera's happiness, 
And sang the song of Hymen Hymenaeus. 

Peithetaerus. 
Your lays they are sprightful, your music delightful, 
Your language is striking, and quite to my liking. 1835 

partly take the place of four Imperative verbs (anage, dieche, 
parage, pareche) which bid the crowd make room, expand them- 
selves and form a double line for the passage of Peithetaerus, his 
bride, and their train. 



158 THE BIRDS, [Exodos. 

Chorus. 

Stay yet a little while and sing 

The earth-descending crashes, 

The fiery-gleaming flashes, 
The terrible white bolt of Zeus the king. 

Song II. 

O the mighty golden blaze of lightning! 1840 

O the flamy spear of Zeus immortal ! 

O the hoarsely-echoed peals of thunder 

Swelling all the cloudy vault from under, 

And the rush of rain from heaven's high portal ! 

Now with these our chief the earth is fright'ning. 

All the power of Jove he comes possessing; 1846 

Royalty, who in glory splendid 

On the ancient throne of Zeus attended, 

He brings by his side in stately pride, 

His queen, his bride, his blessing. 1850 

Sing we the song of Hymen Hymenaeus ! 

PeitJietaerus. 

Haste ye the wedding-hour to grace, Strophe. 

All my mates of feathered race : 

Up to the hall of Jove ascend ; 

There the bridal couch attend. 1855 



1842 — 50(1750 — 3). "O the hoarsely blessing." Theoriginal 

is of necessity expanded here with much freedom. Lit. O earth- 
going deep-sounding and likewise rain-bringing thunders, with 
which this man now shakes earth. Having become master of all 
that was Jovis, he possesses also Royalty, assessor of Zeus % 



Exodos.] THE BIRDS. 1 59 

Reach me thy hand, O blessed one, Antistrophe. 

Our procession is begun ; 

And, as thy floating form I stay, 

Grasp my pinions, and away ! 

[ The procession goes forth amidst jubilant music. 

Chorus, 

Taralala, lalala ! i860 

Waft the conqueror, waft on high, 
Thrilling lyre and Paean-cry! 

Taralala, lalala ! 
Hail to thee, all hail to thee, 
Our supremest deity! 1865 



1862 (1764). "ThriHing lyre:" The Greek word (tenella) is 
often used in imitation of the twanging sound of lyre or guitar. 

1865 (1765). On the parts severally taken by Peithetaerus, the 
Chorus and the Coryphaeus in this Exodos, see Supplementary 

Notes. 



APPENDICES. 



ii 



APPENDIX A. 






Parabasis Proper. 

In the CLOUDS the Parabasis proper is in the peculiar 
metre invented by Eupolis, and thence called Eupolidean : being 
without a 'pnigos.' In The Fi'ogs the Parabasis proper with its 
'pnigos' is omitted. The Lysistrata, Ecclesiaztisae and Phttus 
have no Parabasis. But in the other extant comedies of Aristo- 
phanes, The Achamians, The Knights, The Wasps, The Peace, 
The Birds, and The TJicsmophoriazusac, the Parabasis proper is 
in the metre called Anapaestic Tetrameter Catalectic. This was 
so usual that in three of these plays we find this portion of the 
play called 'the Anapaests.' A version of the passage in its 
original rhythm is therefore added here as instructive, while in the 
text the rhymed Trochaic has been introduced as more agreeable 
to a modern ear and more accordant to the general character of 
the present work 

vv. 720 — 761 (685—722). 

Ho ye men who by nature are dim-lived, attend, ye most sem- 
blant of all to the leaf-race, 

Little furnish'd with strength, and mere figments of clay, sha- 
dow-wrought population and nerveless; 

ye wingless ephemerals, born to endure, O ye men that are 
mortal and dreamlike, 

Unto us the immortals give diligent heed, unto us who are ever 
existent, 

The etherial dwellers, untouched by old age, the devisers of plans 
never-ending ; 

II — 2 



1 64 APPENDIX A. 



That, when once ye have learnt all the lore that we teach of 

the regions above so veracious, 
When ye know to the full the true nature of birds, the descent 

of the gods, and the rivers 
That through Chaos and Erebus run, ye may bid prosy Prodikus 

hang for the future. 
First Chaos and Night and black Erebus were, and grim Tarta- 
rus widely extended ; 
But at that time nor Earth was in being, nor Air, nor the Hea- 
ven itself was existing, 
When in Erebus' limitless lap first of all did the dark-plumed 

Night lay a wind-egg, 
Whence in due revolution of seasons sprang Love, the dispenser 

of all that is sweetest, 
With his pinions of gold shining brightly behind, and in speed 

like to wind-rolling eddies. 
He in Tartarus wide, as the legend imports, with the dark misty 

Chaos uniting, 
Became father of us ; and there nurtured our race, till we came 

forth to light for the first time. 
There existed no race of immortals until Love wrought to the 

blending of all things ; 
But, when one with another was mingled, arose the great heaven. 

the earth and the ocean, 
And the stock never-dying of all happy gods. Thus of all 

blessed beings we're oldest. 
Many facts prove us children of Love ; for we fly, and are fond 

of consorting with lovers, 
Who, when other resources are fruitless, have found that the gift 

of a bird is effective, 
And the battle of love may be won by a quail, or a goose, or a 

finch or a sparrow. 
Of the many great blessings that mortals enjoy, those they get 

from the birds are the greatest. 
In the first place of seasons the signals we bring, of the winter, 

the spring and the summer. 

9 



APPENDIX A. 



105 



They must sow when the clangour is heard in. the air of the 

crane into Libya retreating; 
At the same time he tells the ship-captain to hang up the rud 

der and tranquilly slumber, 
And he bids for Orestes be woven a cloak, lest he shiver and 

take to dismantling. 
The next bird after this that appears is the kite, introducing a 

different season, 
When the spring-laden fleece of the sheep must be shorn: then 

the swallow next makes her appearance, 
Who declares it is time to dispose of the cloak and to purchase 

a blouse for the dogdays. 
Furthermore we are Ammon and Delphi to you, your Dodona, 

your Phoebus Apollo; 
For ye come to the birds first of all for advice, ere ye go to 

your worldly vocations, 
To your commerce in marts, to the choice of a trade, and an- 
other, it may be, to marriage. 
Whatsoever about divination decides, with the title of bird ye 

endow it ; 
Ye pronounce it 'a bird,' be it oracle, sneeze, voice or omen or 

footman or donkey. 
So this question we ask, and the answer is plain ; are we not 

your prophetic Apollo ? 



APPENDIX B. 

Syllabus of the most important various readings of the Greek Text 
followed in the Translation. 

[The initials express B. Bergk, H. Holden, K. Kock, M. Meineke.] 

23. tl 8* rj Kopcourj ; ttjs odov tl \eyei TrepL ; conj. (MSS. have 
ovtf or 7) d' rj) : tl d' ; r) Kopcovrj rrjs k.t.X. Meineke. H olden, with 
Cobet, omits the first question and the tl before \eyei. 

75 — 6. ovtos y clt\ of/xct£,...a>V ore pev epa k.t.\. M. &C 
150. 6tlt) vr) tovs Oeovs o(t ovk Ideou, Kock, who justly says 
that otlt] as a repeated question (for 6m) ri\ or orifj tl drj) is inad- 
missible. In Holden's text (Ed. 2) and in M., vr) tovs 6eovs otl for 
on vr) tovs Oeovs is questionable. H. should have kept 6V, which 
he claims as his own conjecture. K. ascribes it to Bothe. 

168. tls iaTLv ovtos ; Dobree, (vulg. tis Spvis ovtos ;). 

169. (JvOpCOTTOS OpVLS dcTTClS fJLTjTOS 7T€TOfJi€VOS* M. H. 

177. In all modern editions this line is written dirokavcroyLai ti 
S' el dtao-Tpaqbrjo-ojjLat. The ordinary construction of d7rokava> is with 
Accus. and Gen. (tl tivos) ; but the Accus. may be omitted ; and for 
the Gen. a Participle may stand, as v. 1358 of this play, ajrekavo-a 
Tapa vr) AC ekOcov ivOabl, which is followed by a condition (as in 
177), e'Lrrep ye yoi kol tov iraTepa fiocrKrjTeov, Considering the awk- 
ward form of the words an. tl 8\ the translator offers the conjecture, 
a77o\avcrojJLaL tov(¥ el <!)iacrTpa(j)r]o-oyLcu. 

192. dia, ttjs k.t.X omitted (with almost all editors) as an inter- 
polation from 1 21 8. 

213. "Itvv* ekekt^opevqs 8' lepols yekecrLV, M. (vulg. *Itvv ekekt- 
^opevrj ^Lepols fiekeo-iv). 



APPENDIX B. 167 



24S — 9. upvis TTTepcov ttolklXos, M. K. H. (vulg. O. TTTepOTTOlKLkos). 
;. ztKuToos ye' kol yap ovofi avTco *oti, Kochly (vulg. eiKoTcos. 
Koi ycip uvofi aiTco y earl). 

276. a3po,3ar^?, Reisig, 8cc. (vulg. opi/Sarrys). 

360. 7rpo aavTov, Bentley &c. (vulg. Trpos* avTov). 

361. 7rpo(rdov, Haupt (vulg. irpocrSov). 

382. Many conjectures are offered in the place of fiafloi yap av 
tls kutto rcov €\8pcou ao(f)6v, which merely repeats what the Hoopoe 
had said v. $j$, while the use of cro(j)6v without article is scarcely 
tolerable. Perhaps Dobree's /aciOois yap av tl ac.t.X. is the simplest 
correction. 

386. *H npiv, B. (vulg. rjp.1v). 

3SS. Halbertsma, approved by M., rejects the words tov o/3e- 
\i(jKov as a gloss. But then what becomes of the metre? 

396. The word ^poo-ia (vulg.) or ^/xoo-ta (Brunck) is difficult 
here ; the former being unmetrical, the latter questionable Greek. 
leke only speaks of some latent corruption, and proposes 
drjpoOev. The sense, however, is not doubtful. 

457. av Se tovS' ovpas \ey* 2s kolvuv, M. (vulg. opas) : B. 6 Spas. 

465. rpLjraXaLy Cobet, &C. (vulg. tl TraXai). 

467. The conjecture of M., followed by H., tlvos rjnels ; for 
tlvos ; — vfiets is not convincingly certain. 

4S0. cos aTTodcocrti, M. (vulg. ovk aTToScocrei). This conjecture is 
ascribed by M. to Hamaker, but by H. K. (rightly, no doubt) to 
Bentley. 

4S4. 7/PX 6 ' T€ n>pcro)i>, TTporepos iravrcov Aapeicov kol Mpya/3a£a)z/, 
Haupt (vulg. jrpcoTos ttclvtcov Aapeiov kol Meyaj3a£bi>). 

492. On Kock's ingenious conjecture cnrobicrovTts for vnodrjerd- 
p.€voi, see footnote. To adopt it would be over-bold : but its plau- 
sibility must be admitted. 

519. ovtol (vulg. avro\) by conjecture, Transl. See footnote. 

523. vvv (f av pavas (vulg. vvv (¥ avSpcnrocf rj\i6iovs piavas). 

525 — 6. fidWovcr vpias Kav toIs lepols, ttcls tls eft vpuv cf 6pvL@€VTr]S 
B. (vulg. fidWovcr vpas, Kav rots Upols ttcls tls 2<j? vpuv 6pvL6evTr]s). 

534 — 5. Here Hermann's conjecture KaTaTptyavTes (for Kal 
TptyavTes) is received by M. H. ; and Kock's KaTaxvo-p,dTLov (for 



1 68 APPENDIX B. 



KardxvcriA erepov) is approved by M. ; but neither of these is essen- 
tial. The kcu in KcarziTa is idiomatic in Aristophanes after a par- 
ticiple. 

538. avcov, Reiske (vulg. avrtcv). 

543. eV ifiov (vulg.), eV e/xoi, M. with one MS. 

567. Here MSS. have Ovy ns and fieXiTroZras (for /zeXrroOrra?). 
Brunck introduces /3o0j>, spoiling metre. Meineke, followed by 
H. K., reads rjv 6' 'Hpa/cXeei Svycri, Xdpco vacrrovs 6veip fxeXiTOvvras, 
which the translator follows, yet suspects that 6vrj ri (Bergk) may 
be more true than Qvycri. 

575. "Uprjv, Bentley (vulg. *\piv). firjvai, M. (vulg. elvai). 

577. rjixas (vulg. vfids), Kochly, who rightly assigns this and 
the next half-verse to Peithetaerus. 

593. to, /xeVaXX' (for which Cobet conj. rd /ieV a'XX'). fclgovo-i, 

B. (Vulg. §<x>(T0V(7l). 

604. vyUC av, M. (vulg. vyUia). 

632. diKaios aftoXos ocrios, B. H. (vulg. dtKaiovs ddoXovs octlovs). 

644. Tcodedly Dind. (vulg. ra>Se rl ;), rightly assigned by Bergk 
to Peithetaerus. 

718. ' dXXosy M. K. H. (vulg. dv8p6s). 

728. copais. K. reads Xcapals after Kochly. Hamaker con- 
siders the words e£ere — Trviyei an interpolation. The translator 
has ventured to retain them, and to give their general spirit some- 
what freely. 

857. crvvavkeiTOi) de Xaipis coda, Hermann M.K.H. (vulg. ctvm&ztcd 
t)e Xcupts- clbdv), 

878. The translator has followed H olden in placing the words 
kcu opvicriv '0\vjJL7riois kcu 'OXv/x7r iycri itacri kcu 7racrr)cri before bidovat 
k.t.\., but he has no doubt that after icmovx^ a speech of Peithe- 
taerus and a clause of the liturgy are lost. 

881. rjpcocrn/ opvLcri, Herm. etc. (vulg. rjp. kcu opv). 

886. kcu fjpicrcikiriyyi, added from the Scholiast by editors. 

905. reals. A neat conjecture of Tyrwhitt is veais. 

930. recov, Kochly (vulg. retv). 

951. w<£o/3o'Xa, M. (vulg. vicfiofioXa). 

979. ov Xd'ios, M. (vulg. ovc? alerbs). This ingenious correction 



APPENDIX B. 



169 



(or some other) is required. Ad'ios is a kind of throstle, mentioned 
by Aristotle. 

996. Kara yvas, Dawes, &C. (vulg. kcit dyvias). 

I OO I, I002. 7rpoa6els ovv eya> rbv Kavov, dvccSev tovtovl tov Kap.7rv- 
Xov 'Ei/0ei? diaj3i]T7]v k.t.X., K. (vulg. comma after KayLirvkov, not after 
Kavov\ Perhaps dvco be for dvcoOev? Transl. 

I OI 3. ^evrfkaTelTai, Haupt (vulg. ^evrfXaTovvrm). (fcpeves, K. 
(vulg. rives). 

1040. rols clvtoIs, Hamaker (vulg. To7<rbe toU). 

1 04 1. Meineke and K. would omit kcu yjrrjtyo-fiacri, as the trans- 
tion does. B. reads kol vop-ivpaai, coins. 

1070. €< (pova'is oXXvtcil, Reisig, &C. (vulg. (fiovalo-LV e£6XXvTai). 

IO78. r)v be £cov tls dydyrj, Dind. M. H. rjv be £<dvt ayrj ris Dobr. 
(MSS edv be £u)vt dydyrj). 

1 08 1. €yx€l. Suspected without ground by M. K. 

IO95. 6£v peXos, Brunck, &C (vulg. 6^vp,eXr) y). 

1131. €KciTovTop6yvLov, Hotchkis, &c. (vulg. EKciTovTopyviov). Mr 
Leonard Hotchkis, to whom this certain correction is due, was 
Head-master of Shrewsbury School in the middle of the 18th 
century. 

paKpovs. This, says Meineke, is corrupt. But it cannot be cor- 
rected : and may not our poet, among his comic eccentricities, 
include the coinage of a new word? Holden suggests ftdflovs. 

1 1 50. M. was the first to point out the lacuna here between 
the words Karoinv and uxnrep. See footnote. Dobree thinks that 
the mortar softened by the swallows is compared to the sopped 
food given by nurses to infants. But surely the case of wabbla 
(Xom.) suggests that the softening is done by children themselves, 
as the translation expresses. 

1 154. aTTtipydo-avT opviBes ; — ^Hcrav k.t.X., Hamaker, (vulg. direip- 
ydvavT ; — "OpviBes -qcrav k.t.X.). 

1 22 1. dbtKels be' kol vvv apd y oicrOa k.t.X,, Herm. (vulg. dbtKels 
be kol vvv' dpd y k.t.X.). 

1228. aKpoaTe vpuv, Blaydes, &c. (vulg. aKpociTeov \>iiiv). 

1234. OILOMTLV; M. (vulg. 7TOlOl(TLV$. 

1238. belaas, Porson (vulg. bewds). 



170 



APPENDIX B. 



1272 — 3. cu rpaypaKapi co KkeLvorciT co y\a(pvpa>TaT€, co KaraKt- 
Xevcrov, KaraKeXevcrov. M. (from Rav. MS.) 

1282. €(T(OKf)ciTcov (vulg. €(TcoKpaTovu). This reading of the 
Ravenna MS. is rightly followed by all later editors. Such intrans- 
itive verbs in aco derived from nouns express ' having the affection 
indicated by the noun.' 

1286. The translator suggests that dp? av is probably the true 
reading here (vulg. dpa). Cobet's emendation av evepovr for dneve- 
povr in v. 1289 is accepted, and it is noticeable that av precedes 
its verb in each instance. 

1299. vtt oprvyoKonov. This reading, from the Scholiast, is gene- 
rally adopted for the vulg. vttu arvcpoKopTrov ((TTv(jj(jK07rov), which, 
as Kock observes, may perhaps be equivalent in sense. 

1338. For av 7roTa6eir)v Shilleto conjectures dpizoTaOeirjv. 

1340. yj/evdayyeX-qcreiv, Bentley, See. (vulg. yj/evdayyeXrjs U*). 

1344. kol 7reT€(r6ai fiovkopcu olkcZv p.e6* vpcov, K. conj. (vulg. Kal 

77€TOpClL KOL fiovXopai OIKUV pe6* VptOv). 

1367. tov ivarepa S' ea £fjv, M. H. (vulg. rbv irarep ea (rjv). 

1376. (fipevbs bppciTL yevedv, Hcrm. &C. (vulg. (ppevl crcopari re veav). 

1389. depia kol (TKoreLvci, B. H. (vulg. depia Kal (TKOTid ye). 

1395. dXdde bpdpov, Herm. &C. (vulg. dXadpofiov). 

1407. KpeKcmida (vulg. KeKponcda). This conjecture of Kock, 
though not placed in his text, appears to the translator so highly 
probable, that he has followed it in his version. See footnote. 

14 10. upvidc9 rives, Dind., &c. (vulg. opviOes rives). 

1439. The vulgar text roTs- peLpaKtois here is manifestly corrupt. 
Meineke conjectures and edits roh cpvXerais. Kock conjectures 
to7$ brjporais, but leaves a blank in his text. Dobree's tcov 
pLeipaKitov, which H olden has received, seems less probable than 
either of the others. No certainty can be obtained in such a case. 

1496. ris ovyKaXvppos, Dawes, &c. (vulg. rls 6 avyKaXvppos ;). 

1506. ano yap p! 6Xe7s, M. &C. (vulg. dirb yap dXecrei p\ &C.). 

1 561. K. conjectures KaOrjo-To for dnrjXSev, which seems corrupt. 
See footnote. 

1582. imicvrj, Dobree from Schol. M. H. K. (vulg. i-iKvco). 
This 'consensus' of editors is followed in the translation. Yet 



APPENDIX B. 



171 



the use of dXXa suggests some question, whether the Indie, may 
not be the true reading. If so, then translate, i I must scrape the 
silphium? 

1656. vCBco ^TToOvrjcrKasv, K. (vulg. voOeV airo6vr}<TKCov). The true 
reading is, however, uncertain. 

16S1. For the corrupt reading fiadi£eiv the conjectures are 
numerous : as, TiTvfti&i y, /3a,3pafet y, /3a/3a£et y, ftari^i y, fiav- 
fei y, &C, any of which would be rendered 'twitters.' 

1 73 1 — 42. The constitution of readings in this song is doubtful. 
In v. 1733 6ea\ for vulg. Seols is Brunck's conjecture adopted by 
M. II. and in the present translation. K. retains 6eols, but does 
not explain it. In v. 1732 top for vulg. tcov (a conjecture of Van 
Gent) is received by K. H. ; but, as rbv apx 0VTa "'^y av seems 
ungrammatical Greek, either Zrjva must be supplied afterwards or 
tcov must be kept, apx. nVTa being regarded as a substantive. For eV 
Toicodi* vfi€i>(uco in v. 1735 and its antistrophic 7-779 r evdaipovos C/ Hpas 
in v. 1 741, M. and II. receive Dawes's emendations roicpff vpcvaico 
and Ktvdaifwvos "H/ja?. These corrections are uncertain, as the 
metrical change from initial anacrusis in the first three lines to 
base in the fourth is open to no objection. 'Ez> does require cor- 
rection on account of final quantity in v. 1734- z ^' «* raft vp. or 
Zfjva ryff vfi. has occurred to the translator as possible, adopting 
tuv in v. 1732. 

1753. &"* ^ ncara, Haupt, (vulg. dia ere ra Travra). 

1 75 j. bajrcdoV) M. (vulg. 7rtdov). 



APPENDIX C. 



Supplemental Notes. 

I. Peithetaerus. p. i. 

This form of the name is (with Kock and Holden) preferred to 
the forms Peisthetaerus (MSS.), Peisetaerus (Dobree) and Pisthe- 
taerus (Meineke). It is usually understood as meaning l Persuader 
of a companion' (i.e. of Euelpides), 'Winmate' or ' Winfriend/ 
Kochly gives it a larger sense, ' Persuader of a hetaeria' (political 
club) : and Donaldson calls the two Athenians Agitator and Hope- 
good. This interpretation is ingenious, but not certain. 

II. C tea las. p. 6. 

42 (39). The cicala (tettix) was deemed by the Athenians an 
earthborn insect. Hence, as Thukydides tells us (1. 6), the wealthier 
citizens long wore golden grasshoppers in their hair as typical of 
their own indigenous character. 

III. Substitution or omission, p. 16. 

v. 143 — 9 (137 — 42). In this place, and in a few other passages, 
which a scholar reading will recognize, the translator has ventured 
to ' palliate ' his author's grossness, by substituting for the thoughts 
and expressions of the Greek what seemed to be their nearest un- 
objectionable equivalents. The choice lay between this course and 
that of omission, by which the drama would be seriously mutilated, 
and would lose that completeness of form, which it is desirable to 
preserve. 



APPENDIX C. '• 173 



IV. The Four Birds, p. 26. 
v. 285 — 322 (207 — 304). The footnote is in accordance with 
Schonborn's views {Die Skene der Hellenen, p. 319). Prof, 
cler of Gottingen, in his 'Adversaria,' argues at much length 
to shew that the four birds, which enter before the rest, were the 
musicians of the chorus, three (Flamingo, Hoopoe Minor and 
Gobbler) flute-players, the fourth (Medus) a lyre-player. They do 
not, in his opinion, come on the proskenium and retire again as 
mutes, but enter the orchestra at once by the right-hand parodos, 
and remain there near the chorus after its entrance, accompanying 
its songs with their instrumental music. This conjecture, which 
Kock seems to favour, is ingenious, and the reasons urged by its 
learned author are instructive, as when he urges that musicians 
were often foreigners, and that they wore bright dresses like these 
four birds. (See also Wieseler's Theatergebaude Tab. Xili. 
with his notes.) Yet it may be said, that we should have looked for 
some distinct allusion in the play itself to the musical character of 
these four birds, such as the nightingale and raven obtain. Nothing 
of this kind appears, except the problematic epithet 'museseer,' 
applied to the Medus-bird. This bird is in the footnote stated 
(with Kock and Droysen) to be a variety of the 'gallus gallinaceus, 7 
afterwards called 4 the Persian bird.' H. Muller (in his translation) 
denies this identity on account of the epithets 'exedros' (holding an 
uncommon site) 'atopos' {absurd), which, he says, would not have 
been applied to a bird so well known as the cock. There is much 
force in this objection. The term 'exedros' {out of seat) is augural, 
and proper to a prophetic bird viewed in an unusual (and therefore 
ill-boding) situation. Like 'museseer,' ' horsecock,' &c. it is taken 
from Aeschylus, and exemplifies the comic practice of parodying 
tragic phraseology. 

V. The Hoopoes of Sophokles and Philokles. p. 29. 

v. 229 (281). This passage must be considered in connexion 
with v. 106—7 (101— 2). Scholl (Sophokles) denies that in either 
place the Hoopoe of Aristophanes identifies himself with that of 



174 APPENDIX C. 



Sophokles, or that the Hoopoe of Philokles is to be regarded as 
the grandson of the Sophoklean bird. He argues, from the verses 
106 — 7 (101 — 2) that The Tereus of Sophokles must have been 
acted shortly before The Birds; but that ThePandionis (a tetralogy) 
of Philokles, which gained the prize against The Oedipus Rex of 
Sophokles (!), must be ascribed to B. C. 431. If we allow the latter 
date to be probable (though not certain), we need not grant that 
The Tereus was certainly acted for the first time shortly before The 
Birds, on account of the lines above cited of this play. A drama of 
Sophokles would live long in the minds of Athenians, nor was the 
immediate recollection of the audience requisite to justify the allu- 
sion there. Neither are jests like that now before us to be pressed 
to all their consequences. Aristophanes wants to say two things ; 
that the Hoopoe of Philokles is a scrubby bird, and that it is a 
type of the profligate Kallias. For this purpose he uses the Athenian 
custom of naming sons from their grandparents, and so he is obliged 
to make his own Hoopoe father of Philokles, in order to make him 
also grandfather of Hoopoe Minor. But whether the Scholiast is 
right in saying that the Aristophanic Hoopoe is identified with the 
Sophoklean, or Scholl in maintaining the contrary opinion, there is 
not evidence enough to determine. 

VI. The Crest, p. 30. 

v. 309 (291). On the various meanings of the word 'lophos' see 
Liddell and Scott's Lexicon. As a crest, it may consist of feathers, 
or of horsehair, or of flesh, as the cock's comb. But there is no 
evidence to support the strange notion of Wieseler that the 'lophoi' 
of the birds here imply a kind of sandals. 

VII. The term Parodos, and the Positions of the Chorus, p. 32. 

v. 281 (263). The term 'Parodos,' as applied to the Greek 
drama, is used with four varieties of meaning. (1) It is primarily 
applied to the two passages (parodoi) leading into the orchestra 
between the stage-buildings (skene) and the extremities of the 
'koilon' or 'theatre' proper, where the spectators sat. Wieseler 



APPENDIX C. 175 



(Griichailand, IV. note 225) combats this statement, here adopted, 
of Schonborn and Buttmann, contending that the 'parodoi' were 
doors opening on the stage itself through walls in the side scenes 
the 'periacti' or machinery. (2) Parodos signifies the entrance 
of the chorus into the orchestra. (3) Parodos gives name to the 
ode sung by the chorus on its first entrance (this does not occur in 
The Birds.) (4) Parodos expresses that portion of a comedy, 
which contains the approach of the chorus, its entrance, and all 
that intervenes before it settles down (so to speak) to its regular 
duties in the drama. This portion is of great length in The Birds^ 

nding from v. 281 (263) to v. 470 (450). 

In this (as in most comedies) the 24 choreutae enter the 
orchestra (by the right-hand parodos) in six rows of four each, 
the coryphaeus being nearest the spectators in the third row. The 
temporary arrangement for their accommodation, varying probably 
in different dramas, is to a great extent conjectural. We suppose 
it to have been a wooden platform, extending from the 'thymele' 
(altar of Dionysus) to the 'proskenium' or stage, which it bor- 
dered to some extent, being somewhat below it. It was ascended, 
perhaps, by two flights of steps, one on each side of the l thymele,' 
and would have steps connecting it with the stage. During the 
Epeisodia, which occupy the greater part of the drama, the chorus 
stood facing the stage in four rows of six choreutae each (perhaps 
with a double central interval shewing two semichoruses), the 
coryphaeus again being third from the left hand in the hind- 
most row, next the spectators. When a stasimon or antistrophic 
ode was sung, they formed themselves into two semichoruses, 
standing opposite one another (antiprosopon), each semichorus 
in three rows of four : and then each had its own coryphaeus, 
facing one another next to the spectators. In order to perform the 
Parabasis, the chorus simply wheeled round from its 'epeisodic' 
position so as to front the theatre, and probably advanced to the 
outer rim of the platform. Thus the chief coryphaeus would be 
in the front row, third from the (spectators') left, and it is sup- 
posed that now the second coryphaeus was next upon his left hand 
Thus again were formed two semichoruses, not face to face, but 



176 APPENDIX C. 



side by side. According to Hermann and Arnoldt, in a full Para- 
basis, the first coryphaeus sang the 'kommation,' and recited the 
Parabasis proper with its 'pnigos:' then the first semichorus 
sang the ode or strophe ; then the first coryphaeus recited the 
epirrhema; then the second semichorus sang the antode or an- 
tistrophe : and finally the second coryphaeus recited the ante- 
pirrhema : after which the chorus wheeled back into its epeisodic 
position fronting the stage 1 . 

1 In Donaldson's Theatre of the Greeks (Ed. 7, p. 229), the orchestral 
arrangements are thus described: "The orchestra was a levelled space 
twelve feet lower than the front seats of the 'koilon,' by which it was 
bounded. Six feet above this was a boarded stage, which did not cover the 
whole area of the orchestra, but terminated where the line of view from 
the central 'cunei' was intercepted by the boundary line. It ran however 
to the right and left of the spectators' benches till it readied the sides of the 
scene. The main part of this platform, as well as an altar of Bacchus in 
the centre of the orchestral circle, was called the 'thymele.' The segment 
of the orchestra not covered by this platform was the 'konistra,' arena, or 
place of sand. In front of the elevated scene and six feet higher than the 
platform in the orchestra (1. e. on the same level with the lowest range of 
seats) was the 'proscenium,' called also the 'logeion' or speaking-stage. 
There was a double flight of steps from the arena to the platform in the 
orchestra, and another of a similar description from the orchestral platform 
to the ' proscenium' or real stage. 

In a footnote on the term ' thymele' is added : 

"The student should remark the successive extensions of meaning with 
which this word is used. At first it signified the altar of Bacchus, round 
which the cyclic chorus danced the dithyramb. Then it signified the 
platform on which this altar stood, and which sei~ved for the limited evo- 
lutions of the chorus. Lastly it denoted any platform (?) We believe 

that in the time of Euripides, at all events, the 'thymele' signified the 
platform for the chorus, and not merely the altar which stood upon it." 

The points in this description from which we dissent are marked 
by italics. The last words which stood upon it seem to be a mere oversight, 
as the ' thymele ' stood, no doubt, on its own low platform or pedestal of 
marble, in the centre of the 'konistra' or orchestral floor. Its summit 
probably filled a scoop in the temporary woodwork of the choral platform, 
and on either side of it rose to that platform the ' klimakteres ' or double 
flight of steps by which the two semichoruses severally reached their 



APPENDIX C. 177 



VIII. The Division of Choral Parts, p. 33. 

v. 327 — 467 (310—447). A controversy exists among German 
scholars respecting the parts given to the several choreutae in song 
and recitation. According to Bamberger, Hermann, Ritschl and 
others, a division of parts between them was made. Rossbach 
and Westphal, with other scholars, hold that, while the coryphaeus 
took the dialogue and recitative parts, the melic passages were 
sung by the rest of the chorus : but these critics do not always 
agree in their results, owing to the difficulty of distinguishing 
accurately between what was recited and what was sung. Arnoldt, 
the latest writer on this question, defends Hermann's view : and, 
treating of this Parodos, he distributes the choral parts between the 
horeutae (including the coryphaeus), assigning also to the 
coryphaeus what belongs to him exclusively. Whether this dis- 
tribution be exact or not, it is ingenious and interesting; for 
which reason it is added here, the Greek lines being cited, but the 
words of the English translation indicated. 

Choreut. a v. 310 Wh — wh — he? 

P —3*5 T— T— say? 

— y — 319 Where? say? 

station. Again, it seems probable that the choral platform was nine or 
ten feet above the floor of the orchestra, i.e. three or two feet only lower 
than the stage. How, for instance, could the scene in the Parodos of this 
drama, where the birds prepare to assail the two Athenians, be effectively 
represented, if the 'choreutae' stood so far below the actors? Lastly, how 
could the choral platform be extended so far to the right and left as to reach 
the sides of the scene? In that case it must have blocked up the 'parodoi,' 
leaving no room for the entrance and march of the Chorus. According to 
our conception, it flanked the ' logeion' or central space of the proskenium. 
Its size we cannot state exactly,, but it would be large enough for the 
standing-room and evolutions of the Chorus, perhaps also for its instru- 
mentalists, unless these were in the 'konistra.' Thus room would be left 
for the Chorus (and others?) to enter the orchestra by the 'parodoi.' 
A chorus entering by the right-hand parodos, as in The Birds, would then 
turn to its left, and, going round the platform as far as the 'thymele,' 
would ascend to its station in two equal divisions, 

12 



178 APPENDIX C. 



— d' — 322 — 3 O you deed? 

— e — 325 So you've done it? 

— s* — 326 And are near us? 

— g — 327 — 32 Alas, alas ! is breaking; 

— V — 333- — 5 Lures me to be. 

— & — 336 — 8 But we by us. 

— 1 — 343 — 8 Ho! forward! ...supply. 

— id — 349 — 51 For nor from me. 

— i/3' — 352~3 So let us our right. 

— *y — 364 Eleleleu for delay ; 

— t §' — 365 Haul 'em away. 

— ie — 369 — 70 Spare them ? kind ? 

— iS* — 373 — 4 Can it be of old? 

— if — 381 — 2 Well, indeed teach. 

— "7' — 383 Ne'er on to you. 

Coryphaeus. — 400 — 6 N ow again what ho ! 

— — 408 Who are tell us. 

— — 410 — 2 To the birds brings 'em. 

Chor. iff —414 What's this tell? 

— k — 415 What proposals... make ? 

— Ka — 417 Sees he to defend? 

— Kp —427 What? fool? 

— Ky — 429 Has he or two? 

— k$ — 432 — 4 His proposals flutter. 

The next following choral speeches belong to the coryphaeus 

(see ' Die Chorpartieen bei Aristophanes ' von Dr Richard Arnoldt). 
Arnoldt lays it down as a rule of Greek Comedy, that the actor on 
the stage is never addressed, conversationally, by the united song 
of the chorus, but either (usually) by their leader, the coryphaeus, 
or, in 'kommatic' passages, such as the one above cited (w. 310 — 
434), by individual choreutae, to whom the several 'kommata' 
are distributed. And he draws special attention to the fact that, 
where a Chorikon sung by the chorus does appear addressed to 
the actor, it is at once followed by a few verses which, as it were, 
sum it up and point it practically; which verses, he says, are 
addressed to the actor by the coryphaeus. Such an instance 



APPENDIX C. 179 



occurs in the Chorikon next following the passage already cited, 

vv. 471 — 484 (451 — 461): where the words, 'At every time 

shall be,' are sung by the full chorus, addressing Peithetaerus, but 
not conversationally , while the two following verses, 'So, what- 
ever broken,' are spoken to him conversationally by the cory- 
phaeus, who invites him to commence his speech. Similar con- 
clusions, ascribed to the coryphaeus, are vv. 578 — 9, (548 — 9), 

'Forthwith then reclaim.' vv. 668 — 9(636 — 7), 'All the work 

...mind.' vv. 1274—6 (1196 — 8), ' Look out — ...nigh.' 

That the tetrameters and trimeters in the ' Epeisodia,' ascribed 
to the chorus, were spoken by the coryphaeus, is obvious. 

In the ' amoebean ' passage, vv. 1394 — 1419 (1313 — 1336), 'Ere 

long lazy loon,' the melic verses ascribed to the chorus were, 

in Arnoldt's opinion, chanted by the coryphaeus. 

In the Exodos, vv. 172 1 — 1765, Arnoldt assigns to the cory- 
phaeus the opening and concluding chants, ' Room for the com- 
pany Royalty,' and ' Taralala deity.' The strophe and 

antistrophe of the first song, 'When the goddess Fates' &c, were, 
he says, sung each by a semi-chorus. The second song, ' O the 
mighty ' &c., was sung by the full chorus. He ascribes to Peithe- 
taerus the words, 'Stay yet Zeus the king.' As regards the 

two songs he is certainly right. Perhaps, too, he is right in giving 
to the coryphaeus the first passage, though it is quite possible 
that the chorus and coryphaeus divided it between them, the 
chorus beginning, and the coryphaeus following at 'Great for- 
tune' But there is no sufficient reason for confining the 

final words, 'Taralala, &c.' to the coryphaeus only, when they 
seem in most respects much more appropriate to the musical 
outburst of the entire chorus. Nor, again, do the words, ' Stay 
yet a little while ' &c, appear suited to the mouth of Peithetaerus. 
They are more fitly chanted by the coryphaeus 1 . 

1 We are inclined, with some critics, to reject the words ix^pv v 9&us 
as a gloss. 



180 APPENDIX C. 



IX. Adjuration of Animals and Trees, p. 53. 

v. 548 (521). Instead of referring this Greek custom to the cause 
suggested in the note, some scholars may be inclined to derive it 
from the primeval practice 1 of animal worship and tree worship. See 
Sir J. Lubbock's Origin of Civilization, ch. v. ; also Fergusson's ' 
Tree and Serpent Worship. 



X. Footpads and Cloak Robbers, p. 69. 

v. 749 (712). Miiller-Striibing {Aristophanes und die Historuche 
Kritik, p. 29, &c.) considers ' Orestes ' to be a general cant name 
for footpads of the time. He observes also, that this- crime of cloak- 
thieving or highway-robbery is mentioned thrice in The Birds, but 
not in any other play of Aristophanes. Hence he concludes that 
(like ' garotting ' in London some few years since) it was an out- 
break of a disturbed period, and a temporary mischief only. In 
the passage of the Acharnians, v. 1160, &c, he thinks a street- 
brawl is described, not a robbery, and supposes the term there 
('some Orestes') to describe a tipsy violent street-reveller, like the 
' Mohawks' of London in the early part of the 18th century. 



XI. The Hermokopidae and the l Popish Plot. 9 

The remarkable parallel between the affair of the Hermokopidae 
at Athens, B.C. 415, and the Popish Plot of 1678 in England, has 
been pointed out by Bishop Thirlwall and Mr Grote. It maybe 
seen in the following particulars. 

I. In Athens (1) the Hetaeries secretly conspired to destroy 
Alkibiades, and to promote a revolution in favour of oligarchic 
principles : (2) their plan was, to fanaticise the people, and to direct 
public indignation against impiety and profanation of things reli- 
gious : (3) for this purpose they availed themselves of a crime, the 



APPENDIX C . 181 



mutilation of the Hermae : (4) and the inquiry into this crime they 
extended to an inquisition of all malpractices against religion, 
offering rewards for evidence : (5) agents of theirs, supported by 
the priests and soothsayers, accused Alkibiades in the Ekklesia of 
such malpractices, and endeavoured to depose him from the office 
of commander, but failed for a time : (6) a crowd of witnesses, 
more or less dishonest and false, came forward to inculpate him 
and many other persons : (7) in consequence of which some were 
put to death, others fled : (8) among the witnesses was one of the 
Hermokopidae (Andokides), who, under the stress of fear, con- 
fessed a part at least of the truth, and so caused the condemnation 
of his own friends : (9) the historical consequences were, that the 
Hetaeries or oligarchic party became so far successful that they 
deposed and expelled Alkibiades, and within a few years esta- 
blished an oligarchy, soon defeated and punished : they came back 
to power when Athens was captured, but were again defeated and 
crushed by the expulsion of the Thirty, and the Democracy was 
permanently restored : (10) the general result beings that popular 
principles triumphed in Athens. 

II. In England (1) the popular party, led by Shaftesbury, and 
having the support of the House of Commons, conspired to exclude 
James Duke of York- from succession to the throne, to control the 
royal power, and to promote a revolution in* favour of civil and 
religious liberty : (2) their plan was, to fanaticise the people, and to 
direct public indignation against ' Popery/ and ' Papists/ especially 
against 'Popish priests:' (3) for this purpose they availed them- 
selves of a crime, the murder, or supposed murder, of Sir Edmunds- 
bury Godfrey : (4) and the inquiry into this crime they extended 
to an inquisition of all treasons imputed to 'Papists' and 'Popish 
priests/ offering rewards for evidence : (5) their supporters in the 
Commons inculpated the Duke of York and his household, and 
passed a Bill to exclude him from succession, but were thwarted by 
the firmness of the King, and the defeat of their Bill in the House 
of Peers : (6) a crowd of witnesses> more or less dishonest and 
false (Oates, Bedloe, Dangerfield, &c.), came forward to accuse 



1 82 APPENDIX C. 



persons of all classes : (7) in consequence of which many were put 
to death, many imprisoned and persecuted in various ways, and 
some went into exile: (8) when the tide had turned against the 
popular party, one of its members (Lord Howard of Escrick), under 
the stress of fear, appeared as a witness against his friends, and so 
caused the condemnation of Lord Russell and others : (9) the 
historical consequences were, that, after much cruelty and injus- 
tice inflicted on Roman Catholics, Charles II. contrived to baffle 
the popular party, and to turn the tables on them : whereby they 
suffered great misfortunes in his reign and in that of his successor, 
many being executed, many driven into exile ; till at length, 
through his own blind folly, James II. lost his throne, and the civil 
and religious liberties of England were secured by the transfer of 
the crown to William of Orange-Nassau and Mary his wife : 
(10) the general result being, that popular principles triumphed in 
England \ 

It has been often said, that History repeats itself: and the 
striking parallelism of these events, in such distant times, and in 
countries so differently situated in most respects, is a verification of 
that saying. Among the lessons which it is calculated to teach, 
are these two : 

First : that the crime of pursuing political ends by wicked 
means, of doing evil that a supposed good may come, is not con- 
fined to any party, but has been committed by all parties in turn, 
absolutist, oligarchic and democratic, even to our own days ; and 
the deduction is, that factious party-spirit is a vice so deeply rooted 
in human nature, that the warnings of history have failed, and may 
long fail, to correct it. 



1 The only inexactness in this parallel is, that in England the first depo- 
sition concerning ' the Popish plot ' was anterior to the death of Godfrey, 
having indeed been sworn before him as a magistrate. That event, how- 
ever, was at once used to spread and strengthen popular fanaticism ; and 
many of those arrested were tried and convicted as principals or accomplices 

in the murder. 

■ 



APPENDIX a 183 



Secondly: that religion, the use of which is to convert men 
from evil to good, has in all times, and in all its forms, been 
abused to uncharitable, unjust and unholy ends : and the deduction 
is, not that religion itself is bad, but that ' the corruption of that 
which is best is worst/ and therefore most of all to be condemned, 
dreaded and avoided both by nations and by individuals. 



NOV 23 1903 



£ambttojje : 

PRINTED BY C. J. CLAY, M.A. 
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. 



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